Senate Hopeful Removes Logo Similar To Blue Jackets' Crest

Delphine Pulls Logo From Web Site After Learning Similarity To Blue Jackets' Mark

Oregon politician Marc Delphine has removed his U.S. Senate campaign logo from his official Web site after learning that it "looks awfully similar" to the Blue Jackets' logo, according to Brad Schmidt of the Portland OREGONIAN. The similarity of the two logos "caught the attention of the Blue Jackets" and NHL officials yesterday when the "revelation occurred" on the Internet. Delphine, a Libertarian, then removed the logo from Web-based campaign materials. He said that he "still had not seen the Blue Jackets' logo and characterized it as an 'unintentional mistake' that was quickly corrected." Delphine later acknowledged that the logos were similar and then "blamed the mistake on a volunteer." Delphine said, "It's not the same logo. There's definitely some differences to it. But it's similar enough." NHL Senior VP/Public Affairs Bernadette Mansur said that "cease-and-desist orders from lawyers weren't necessary" because Delphine's logo "has disappeared." Mansur added, "I don't think there was any question that it looked close enough to be a potential legal issue" (Portland OREGONIAN, 3/11). YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski reported the Blue Jackets PR staff was "alerted by fans over Twitter of the trademark infringement, and passed the matter along to their legal department and then to the NHL." Delphine said of complaints about the similarity, "They were all like, 'What are you doing with their logo?' and I was like, 'I didn't make the logo!' and we pulled it immediately. I'm not interested in any kind of infringement. We don't even need a logo." He noted that a volunteer "created the logo and donated it to the campaign"(SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/10).