October/November 2021

GLAMPSITES
“THE OWNER OF THE SECRET GARDEN GLAMPSITE
SUBSEQUENTLY CAME ACROSS THE LITTLE YURT MEADOW
ON THE WELSH BORDERS USING OUR EXACT LOGO TO
REPRESENT THEIR YURT GLAMPSITE, APPARENTLY ALSO
HAVING DOWNLOADED IT FROM A STOCK IMAGE WEBSITE”
but to be honest we hadn’t even considered
registering the trademark for our business.
Without the registered trademark there
was still a potential copyright infringement
however for “passing off”, which involves
misrepresentation of products or services as
being associated with another business, which
would be more challenging to fight in court if it
had to go to that stage.
On investigation we discovered that The
Secret Garden had opened their glampsite
after lockdown in 2020 and had been using our
logo for almost a year, having commissioned
it using the Fiverr website. They were very
surprised to hear it was our logo, having not
intentionally copied it and, on investigating,
they discovered that their designer had
downloaded it from a free stock image
website.
The owner of The Secret Garden glampsite
subsequently came across The Little Yurt
Meadow on the Welsh borders using our
exact logo to represent their yurt glampsite,
apparently also having downloaded it from
a stock image website. He assumed this was
a sister company to Round the Woods, as
anyone else would do on discovering the exact
same logo for two similar businesses.
I was shocked to discover that genuine
business logos can be found freely
downloadable online and that some designers
falsely use these logos to create a design for
another business, although it is probably
not so surprising when you see how little is
charged for logo creation on some platforms. A
logo or design can be uploaded to a free image
website by anyone, highlighting why legal
protection is so crucial.
We discovered our logo on several PNG
and clipart websites and thankfully it was
promptly removed, although interestingly on
each of these websites the logo was tagged
as both Round the Woods and Norfolk, and
in some instances it even had our business
name as part of the image, all of which was
clearly ignored by the logo designers who
were passing off these designs as available to
be used. This highlights the importance of the
business owner to check that they are not in
breach of any copyright or trademarks when
using an image for your business.
We have been in contact with both
glampsites and have asked them to remove
our logo and all elements of it from their
branding. Fortunately both have cooperated
having been informed and have apologised
for the mistaken use of our logo. The Little
Yurt Meadow quickly replaced our logo with a
different one on their website and social media
channels. The owner of The Secret Garden is,
understandably, quite attached to elements
of the logo they had been using for almost a
year, and have redesigned elements, adapting
the trees and removing a few details so it is no
longer as similar.
After these experiences, we now have the
registered trademark for our logo as well as
our business name, which provides us with
a stronger position legally and would make
any potential future legal challenges more
affordable. This is a step we would recommend
all businesses apply for once you have a logo
or business name that you feel represents your
business as it will provide protection against
anyone who copies your brand identity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Symonds is co-owner of Round the Woods,
a glampsite in Norfolk with yurts and a unique
roundhouse constructed from strawbales. www.
roundthewoods.co.uk
TIPS FOR CREATING
AND PROTECTING
A LOGO
› Work with a reputable designer
to create original artistic work
to represent your business
and ensure that you own the
copyright of the completed
design. Ensure you are paying
the designer for their time and
creative ideas as well as the
experience required to create
something that will portray your
business. Do not expect someone
to create a logo from scratch for
very little money.
› Ignorance is unfortunately
not an excuse – it is the business
owner’s responsibility to ensure
that they are not in breach
of copyright or trademark
infringement through the use of
their logo or business name, and
due diligence is required – make
sure your designer is not copying
another business’s design.
› Register the trademark for
your logo with the Government
Intellectual Property Office (www.
gov.uk/how-to-register-a-trademark)
to give you protection
from trademark infringement.
Each registered trademark costs
around £170 and lasts for 10
years.
› Do a search online periodically
to see if your logo appears
on free image websites or if
other businesses are using it,
and promptly request that it is
removed. You can easily do this
on Google by visiting Google
Images, clicking the camera icon
in the search bar and uploading
your logo. You can then search for
similar images.
44 WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM