Facebook’s Libra project has been accused of many things, from potentially financing terrorism to allowing for a new level of data capture, but one thing that no one suspected was that they would be in trouble over the logo. Well, that’s exactly what has happened, with banking app provider Current taking them to task over a branding clash, to the extent that Current have taken them to court over it.
this is what happens when you only have 1 crayon left pic.twitter.com/2JY5JfesQD
— Current (@current) June 19, 2019
A Test of Character
The suit, filed towards the end of last week in the Southern District of New York, states that the similarities between Facebook’s Calibra wallet logo and Current’s own logo are too close for comfort for the banking company, who list not only Facebook as defendants but also Character, the agency Facebook hired to create the logo. Current’s own logo dates back to 2016, when it was created by…Character. Coincidence? According to the filing, Current state that they have “expended substantial time, money, and resources marketing, advertising, and promoting its banking services under the CURRENT marks”, so it must be pretty galling to see such a similar logo being created for a different company and plastered all over the web. Current describes the Calibra logo as being “not only confusingly similar to, but virtually identical to” their own mark, which can’t be denied by anyone with a pair of eyes, and tried continually to contact Facebook over the matter, but the social media giant failed to respond, leading to Current taking the action they have.
FB Suit by Anonymous RXEhFb on Scribd
Where Does the Blame Lie?
Current is demanding immediate cessation of use of the logo by Facebook as well as unspecified damages from both Facebook and Character. At this stage it is not known how much input Facebook had into the design, and whether Character made them aware of any potential clash with Current’s logo, deliberations that will likely play a big part in any punitive action that might result from a judgement in Current’s favor, should it get to that stage.
