Using city names & UK landmarks on new product packaging?

neuspeed · 10 April 2019 at 1:49PM

Good Afternoon all Money Saving Experts,

I have a question with regards to a new line of products I will be launching for my small business.

I'm am designing labels for my new products and I'm looking to use the names of multiple cities (I'm from one of them and each product will have a city name on it), and also apply some landmarks in the background of the label from these cities.

Do I need to acquire permission to use the cities Name on my item? Do I also need to acquire permission to use illustrations of landmarks on my product labels? These would be my own designs and the landmark itself I would create in Photoshop by hand.

I've had a search on Google but unable to find anything that will help me figure this out. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks for your help.
:beer:

bingo_bango · 10 April 2019 at 2:30PM

The short answer is no.

If you decide to register the design however, it needs to be different from anything else currently registered in that class. This would important if you were trying to protect your rights through the courts at some later date.

In terms of a starting point for research, see the IPO Blog around names. It has a link towards the bottom for registered designs and that is probably where you want to start the journey proper.

Good luck!

Elise1912 · 22 April 2019 at 8:50PM

I think it depends in what context exactly. There are rules about using some phrases e.g. Made in London or Best in London when actually those aren't factually correct. What's the product and why do they have city names on them? I think we need a bit more background. I don't see a problem using artwork as long as its your own and they're public landmarks as opposed to a privately owned building.

Mistral001 · 23 April 2019 at 11:37AM

You need to watch out that you do not accidently include any emblems in your designs. For example' most national flags do not have copyright protection but state flags in the USA are protected.

Any photo that is not taken by you will have automatic copyright protection even if you alter it in Photoshop. Also, you need to be careful using photos which are labelled as "royalty free", or other such phrase which suggests that you can use them for any purpose, as they can still have copyright protection when used for commercial purposes.

Using city names & UK landmarks on new product packaging?

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