Female-focused daily newsletter digest The Squiz has been forced to drop its logo after legal complaints about similarities between the newly launched Australian product and five-year-old US title theSkimm.
Launching in March this year, The Squiz was set up by Claire Kimball who was previously Woolworth’s head of group communications and a former press secretary to Tony Abbott.
The similarity of The Squiz to theSkimm, which has trademark protection, was immediately pointed out by Crikey when it launched in March. As well as similar logos featuring the silhouette of a woman holding a tablet, , the newsletters also follow a similar format, including starting with a quote of the day.
The old logo for The Squiz and US site theSkimm | Image source: Crikey
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In an email to subscribers, the Squiz has now revealed a new logo.
Kimball told Mumbrella that theSkimm had warned it was considering legal action. She said there had “been a measured to and fro between the lawyers”.
“The legal request was made on March 30. We had an initial email from one of the founders on March 18 asking about us. Given we had only launched on March 8, we were quite flattered that they had even noticed us, particularly as we aren’t in the same market,” she told Mumbrella by email.
“In the end it was my choice to spend my energy building The Squiz instead of with lawyers.”
Kimball: Did not want legal battle | Image: LinkedIn
She added: “As a brand that is just two months old I thought the best way through was to make the changes. That is not to say we agreed with their concerns about our original branding and format – we didn’t. That energy has been well placed, in the last month we have quadrupled our subscribers and we now have a good foundation to engage marketing partnerships and support. ”
Over the weekend The Squiz emailed its subscribers to announce the change “as a gesture of goodwill”.
“We loved the original Ms Squiz and we’re sad to see her go, but onwards and upwards,” the email said.