Clothing brand October's Very Own (OVO), owned by Drake, has had its feathers ruffled by luxury accessories brand Bellroy using an allegedly similar owl logo. OVO has filed a law suit against Bellroy, claiming that the company's recent move into footwear means its products benefit from resembling OVO's.
The Canadian rapper's brand called fowl after Australia-based Bellroy supposedly changed its hunched-over owl to more closely mimic OVO's trademarked logo. And shortly after launched a range of shoes in collaboration with footwear brand Clae. (If they needed ideas, they should have read our logo design inspiration guide.)
Bellroy's owl logo appears to have flown under the radar since 2013, or perhaps OVO (established in 2011) weren't too concerned when the leather goods brand were only selling wallets and phone cases. Either way, they certainly gave a hoot when footwear entered the frame.
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OVO's owl (left) vs Bellroy's (right) (Image credit: OVO/Bellroy/Future Owns)
In court papers obtained by TMZ, OVO claims Bellroy "changed the design of the owl by altering its posture, width, wings and feet in order to blatantly mimic the OVO owl." It also claims that by placing the owl on footwear, Bellroy is competing with its "core business" of apparel. While we couldn't possibly say whether the similarity is intentional, Bellroy's owl (below) does indeed appear to have learned, at some point, to stand up straight.
Bellroy's current logo (right) and an older version (Image credit: Bellroy/Future Owns)
This is by no means the first time a company has been sued over logo similarities. Just last month, the City of Chicago sued a coffee company over trademark infringements. OVO is asking for an injunction to stop Bellroy and Clae from selling anything that looks similar to their owl. It's also seeking to get its talons into any profits made from the collaboration.
Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles. He has interviewed leaders and designers at brands including Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. Daniel's debut book of short stories and poems was published in 2018, and his comedy newsletter is a Substack Bestseller.
