They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but the City of Calgary isn’t flattered by a Spanish accessory company using similar branding.
‘The World of Calgary’ is a company located in Spain that sells branded watches, sunglasses and other accessories online. Its name, logo and typeface looks similar to the current and former branding the City of Calgary uses on its letterhead, signage and city vehicles.
“It’s obviously a rip-off of City of Calgary branding,” said Ward 9 Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra when he first saw the company’s logo Monday. “I have no idea what this is about, but it’s weird and obviously we should take a close look to it.”
The city says it is aware of the company and in a statement to CTV News, the city’s legal department says,“The City of Calgary does not register its trademarks in multiple jurisdictions internationally and the company does not sell its products in Canada.”
The city says it will continue to monitor the issue and if ‘The World of Calgary’ products are ever sold in Canada, the city “will take action.”
“I’ve never thought that it’s a particularly good use of the City’s time or resources to go after people for copyright infringement,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi of the company.
But the city has gone to battle over trademark issues. Most recently in May, when a local craft brewer was served a cease-and-desist letter over its ‘Fort Calgary’ beer. The two sides later came to an agreement to allow the beer to be sold for charity, as long as the brewery didn’t use the name again.
Multiple requests by CTV to ‘The World of Calgary’ for comment have not yet been answered.
Watches on the company’s website sell for between 10-18 €, which is around $15-27 CAD.
Headphones and bags with the company’s Calgary-look-alike branding is also available.
