Every time you plan to insert a logo of another company in your Website or printed materials, you should seek permission from that company or consult with an experienced legal expert first. If not, you may end up like this case below.

Angie’s List, a membership service that compiles consumer ratings of local service companies and contractors in multiple cities across the United States, has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against its rival company Ameritech Publishing for using its cartoon character servicewoman logo.

The company claims their ratings were published by Ameritech in yellow-page telephone directory listings of the businesses without their permission. Moreover, the logo of a servicewoman giving a thumbs-up has also appeared in print ads of some companies offering services such as gutter repair, plumbing and glass installation.

Though Ameritech assured the company that they will no longer use the logo, they failed to remove it in their most recent 2007-2008 Yellow Pages directory.

Angie’s List demands that Ameritech must give part of the revenues generated from sales of its Yellow Pages. An alternative is to recall and destroy all Yellow Pages directories containing the servicewoman logo, a very difficult remedy which will not likely prosper in court.

Via Indiana Law Blog