Recently, we noticed two companies using the word “move” in their company name and logo and interestingly, the same font, similar weight, even similar size.
According to PlayStation, Move.Me is “a new software application that provides academics and hobbyists access to PlayStation Move’s technology, enabling them to create entirely new applications using a PC, the Move motion controller, the PlayStation Eye, and the power of the PlayStation 3 system.”
Move, Inc. is an online real estate company comprising of REALTOR.com®, Move.com®, Moving.com™, TOP PRODUCER®, HomeInsight.com and SeniorHousingNet.com™.
We doubt either company will approach the other given the industries are so different, but for a minute, I thought Move, Inc. had bought into the gaming industry.
MH for Movoto
March 3, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Huh. Yeah, the industries are distanced enough that I doubt there will be much TM confusion . . . but how did you happen to notice?
Lani Rosales
March 3, 2011 at 6:47 pm
Well, nosy pants, a story on PlayStation was in my feed reader and as I zipped by I saw it and did a double take! Wouldn’t you? Maybe Move, Inc. invested in PlayStation!? 🙂
Lara Scott
March 3, 2011 at 9:52 pm
You’ll like this one Lani. A comment and the image that accompanied it got me banned from commenting on the facebook page I set up for this co.
It was just a bit of fun on an otherwise dull day.
Same industry
Same company
Different year
Different designers
Deja vu? If I could send the pic I would attach it but my privacy settings on FB are “High private”
Lani Rosales
March 3, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Lara, screenshot that bad boy and share a link! Would LOVE to peek! 🙂 I’m always intrigued by this kind of stuff, I’m geeky that way.
Ralph Bell
March 3, 2011 at 10:25 pm
Well played….well played.
The timing seems perfect.
Joshua Hill
March 4, 2011 at 12:39 am
Very timely post, Lani, considering what is going on between the Lones Group and Daniel Rothamel! In that case, though, both are operating in the real estate industry, and are very aware of each other’s branding similarities.
Lani Rosales
March 4, 2011 at 1:04 am
Totally unrelated, I’m just a font nerd who is reads hundreds of blog articles every day, one of which was about the changes in the gaming industry. 🙂
~Angela
March 4, 2011 at 12:17 pm
I don’t think they’re similar enough to make for trouble. Here’s why:
M – Move Inc.’s m is more narrow. Possibly the same font with the horizontal scaling adjusted.
O – The o’s are distinctly different.
V – This character is identical. (How many ways can you make a sans-serif v though?)
E – This is the “tell”. The e’s are distinctly different. The tail of the e in Move Inc.’s logo does not turn up to form a circular shape, it goes out and forms a straight edge on the right.
Since the e is different and it isn’t likely that they’d use 2 fonts in one logo, I think it is two different fonts that happen to have the same v.
Especially since these are two different industries, and given that the O is a house for Move Inc. and Move.ME has the .ME, I see them as totally different logos. If they didn’t have the house and the .ME then there would be a problem.
IleenieWeenie
March 4, 2011 at 12:24 pm
While they’re not the exact same font, they’re certainly close enough. My guess is that these companies had no idea how similar their logos were. My question would be, were the logos themselves trademarked or just the names of the companies? If the actual designs of the logos were trademarked, one would think the similarity would be found during a typical search done by copyright/trademark attorneys. That said, there are only so many ways to create a clean, modern logo out of the word “move” or any other word, actually. I’ll bet we can find many similar examples, though this one is particularly uncanny.