A union has the right to use a company’s logo in a logo that the union uses to identify an organizing or bargaining campaign, so long as the union adds wording that makes it clear that the logo identifies the campaign and not the company. In other words, when customers or the general public see the whole logo – including the added wording – they should not be confused that it is related to the company.
For example, the REI campaign considered making campaign logos that used REI’s exact logo and added the word “union,” the location of the bargaining unit, for example, Berkeley, and the union’s logo, either UFCW or RWDSU:
REI’s logos feature the company’s name in a distinct font, the image of a tree, and a jagged line meant to depict mountain peaks.
During the organizing campaigns, the campaigns opted for versions of the above logo that still used REI’s exact logo. The campaigns added words or symbols, such as the vest outline on the tree (REI refers to workers as “green vests”) in the UFCW Local 5 logo for the Berkeley, Calif., campaign; the RWDSU/UFCW logos for the Cleveland and New York City campaigns; and the sun peeking behind the mountains for the UFCW Local 663 Maple Grove, Minn., campaign.
Courts have recognized the rights of unions to use company logos in logos identifying their campaigns. For example, a court recently dismissed a lawsuit Trade Joe’s filed against Trader Joe’s United claiming that the union infringed on the company’s trademark by using the logo on merchandise that the union was selling on its website. The court ruled that it is unlikely that anyone could reasonably think that the campaign was the company because a consumer buying merchandise on the union’s website would see criticisms of the company, which would make clear that the union – not the company – was selling the merchandise. This, plus the visual differences in the logos, showed that is unlikely that the general public could confuse the campaign for the company.
How this can help you
If locals believe that using the company’s logo in the campaign’s logo would more effectively attract the attention of workers or the support of the general public, this law gives locals the right to use the company’s logo, as long as the local adds text that makes it clear that the logo identifies the campaign, and not the company.
For the same reasons, locals can use company logos to identify bargaining campaigns.
Locals can also use this law to respond to companies who ask the union to stop using their logo in the campaign’s logo. Specifically, the union should point out to the company that the union has the right to use the company’s logo because the language the union added makes it clear that the logo identifies the campaign and no one could reasonably think that the campaign was passing off itself off as the company.
Any questions about using a company’s logo during a campaign should be addressed to George Wiszynski at gwiszynski@ufcw.org or Viraj Patel at vpatel@ufcw.org.