A Tale of Two Icons
What would inspire the Space Needle to set the machines of law against a tiny improv theater group? The answer lies in two icons that the Needle insists are the same.
In 1999, the Space Needle spent what I imagine was too much money on a branding campaign that included a four-stroke abstraction of the Needle--a slashing S with one line out the top and two out the bottom. Last year, the Seattle Festival of Improvisational Theater began a competitive improv show called Cage Match. It hired a designer who cooked up a logo that happened to include a similar design element. The Needle accused SFIT of stealing its idea; the festival denied it and is now the proud owner of an official cease-and-desist letter from the Needle. (Check out seattleimprov.com/cage_match and spaceneedle.com to compare the disputed logos for yourselves.)
Predictably, SFIT can't afford to hire lawyers and a redesign would significantly sting its micro-budget. "There is some cost involved, but the principle of the thing is most important," said festival producer Matt Grabowski. "Here's someone with a lot of resources we don't have, throwing their weight around. We're seriously committed to paying people fairly, so it bugs me to have this 900-pound gorilla come in and imply we're stealing."
Depending on the gorilla's choice of legal weaponry, it will have to (a) demonstrate that the public will be deceived by the two logos, unsure where the Space Needle ends and Cage Match begins, and/or (b) prove it owns an "original work of authorship," i.e., that the scribbled-S Needle is so novel, nobody could have created it without copying. If the designers did steal the logo, they should, of course, fess up. But even Space Needle Vice President Peter Beck admitted that "it's not a complicated design" and it's "not incredible" to imagine that someone else independently thought of a similar idea.
The biggest question remains: Why do the Needlers give a damn? Do they relish playing the bully? Are they really that lathered up about small-time improv comedians who arrived at a similar, obvious idea for a fraction of the cost? It's possible that the Needle is simply covering its ass. As a lawyer friend observed, you can lose the right to a trademark by allowing others to use similar trademarks without making a fuss. Hopefully, the cease-and-desist is a hollow, precedent-establishing gesture so the Space Needle can defend itself if a worthier target swipes its logo.
If the Space Needle is hedging its bets against trademark abandonment, wink-wink, we get the idea. If not, and its owners are really fastidious about guarding unoriginal intellectual property, then I submit that "Live the View"--the silly slogan part of the Needle's expensive branding campaign--bears a striking resemblance to "Live the Ride," a title I gave to an article some months ago. Fair's fair, gentlemen: I expect my very own cease-and-desist letter soon.
