'Infuriating': Designer shocked at similarity between his Chilliwack logo and new Vancouver mark

The entrepreneur behind the City of Chilliwack's logo said he was left shocked and frustrated after he saw the City ofVancouver's brand new wordmark, which bears aresemblance to his 2011 creation.

Dan Mansell said a friend tagged himin a Facebook post about the Vancouver's new branding after it wasapproved bycity councillors earlier this week.

"I couldn't believe it," Mansell said. "I was really shocked."

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The designer ownsBasecamp Creative, a Chilliwack-based design company. He was commissionedto create the city'snew brandingsix years ago.

The resulting logo, which features a mountain illustration inspired by the Fraser Valley's Cheam mountain range, was trademarked by city officialsthat same year.

Vancouver began plans to refresh its logo in June, according to a report, with the goal of creating something simpler and more social-media friendly.

'We share the same highway'

Mansellsaid he thinks the two designsare "too close to be a coincidence."

"If this was a city in Australia, I wouldn't be so mad. If this was a city in a different part of Canada, whatever. But this ... we share the same highway."

"My bet is that the designer was researching other city branding and looked at what I did with the City ofChilliwackand maybe subconsciously copied it or got too fixated [on it]," he said. "But I obviously don't know the process for sure."

Mansellsaid hesubmitted"four orfive drafts" of the brandingbefore it was ultimately approved by Chilliwack city council.

He declined to say how much he received for the project, but said it was "certainly less" than the $8,000 shelled out byVancouver.

"That's the extra infuriating part," the designersaid.

Trademark law

Mansell hasn't decided whether or not he'll pursue legal actionbut said he will be "exploring all of his options."

However, a Vancouver-based trademark lawyer says there might not be many options forthe designer to explore.

Upon its completion, Mansell transferred copyright of the artwork to the City of Chilliwack.

Because he no longer owns rights to the artwork, it's unlikely the designerwould have a successful copyright case, says former lawyerAndreiMincov.

Mincov said Chilliwack could pursue action against the City of Vancouver, but that"there may not be much thatcan be done."

"The use of a plain, publicly available font to depict the name of a city even if another city had been using the same font doesn't constitute trademark or copyright infringement," hesaid. "When Chilliwack's logo is viewed as a whole, its only protectable elements are the words 'City of Chilliwack'and the image of the mountain. The words are protected as a trademark or, more specifically, an official mark. The mountain is protected as both copyright and a trademark.

"Neither of these elements is present in Vancouver's new logo."

CBC News has reached out to the City of Vancouver for comment.