New Xerox Logo is Ripped off from Flag of Kyrgyzstan?


New Xerox Logo is Ripped off from Flag of Kyrgyzstan?

1
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Perhaps you have noticed that XEROX corporation has changed it logo. According to some bloggers, the company has dished out a cool $1 million for its new logo.

So far so good.

But I'm sorry to break the bad news: Xerox corporation might have been ripped off.

Why?

Because it looks like the new logo could have been appropriated directly from the national Flag of Kyrgyzstan!

Proof? Here we go. You decide for yourself.

First the new XEROX logo:

Now, here is the Kyrgyzstan flag:

Here is the new Xerox "BALL":

And here is the Kyrgyz "BALL" (turned 90 degrees clockwise):

Any questions?

It seems only fair that either the Xerox Corp. or the graphic firm they hired share some of their proceeds with the Government of Kyrgyzstan.

What do you think? Are we going to support intellectual property rights only in the West?



user-icon Submitted by karbon on Fri, 2008-03-14 13:49


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jdubhub's picture

Who designed the Kirghiz flag?

Submitted by jdubhub on Fri, 2008-03-14 15:10.

Considering the fact that the current Kyrgystan flag was adopted on March 3, 1992, somebody had to design it. I've read the symbology of the flag here and it looks like they put some thought into it. The Kirghiz SSR flag, adopted on December 22, 1952, didn't look anything like the current one.

Xerox has been around since 1906 as The Haloid Company (named Xerox in 1961), so they have a longer claim to using an "X" as the logo. If you look at the ideas behind their new logo design, one can argue that their case is just as compelling.

Quote:
The new logo consists of a bright red lowercase “xerox” that sits alongside a red sphere sketched with lines that link to form a stylized X. According to Anne M. Mulcahy, Xerox’s chief, that little piece of art represents the connection to customers, partners, industry and innovation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/business/07cnd-adco.html?_r=1&8br&oref=login

Quote:
The redesign is a departure from previous changes to the logo, which were variations on a fixed typeface of the Xerox word. The result of extensive global research conducted with Xerox employees, customers and partners, the new brand was developed by Interbrand. It was unveiled to the company’s 57,000 employees today in a global webcast hosted by Mulcahy and Burns.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/xerox/brand/prweb606831.htm

To argue that somehow Xerox or Omnicon Interbrand owe some royalties to the government of Kyrgystan is something that makes no sense IMO. Japan has a red ball on a white field for its flag, so any logo incorporating a red ball or any shape or size should be paying the Japanese government royalties, by extension. Isn't going to happen.

Besides, if Kyrgystan has exclusive-use rights to any part of their flag, you'd be in violation of international law for posting it here without express permission of their government.

jdubhub's Xombyte

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