[Moderator David@stives]

Last week as some of you know i went on Holiday to North Devon
, As  I pulled into a  carpark in Watermouth just outside Ilfracombe
I saw a van whos Signage looked familiar, I knew i had seen
 it before but on another vehicle belonging to GaZ 20 
a member of this forum , same name ,same logo .here is the post
 showing Gazs van

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=18899.0


At this point i got a little bit excited i convinced myself it was Gaz
but he had changed his vehicle, i knew the name and logo were exactly
the same so had to be him, so i phoned the mobile number on the
side of the van and some guy called ken or len or something like
 that answered, so i made my apologies and hung up and thought
i must have got it wrong as it was a long time since i had seen the
picture of Gazs van.

Anyhow i think Gaz has been well and truly cloned apart from the
 make of the van and it could of only come from helping others

you decide

top photo Gazs van

Bottom photo showing the imposter.

What would you do in these circumstances.

I know Gaz designed the logo and lettering himself

[Sunshine Cleaning]

Should we all phone him up?

[H h20]

Hi Dave,when i got your email i thought it wa s windup,i didn`t click that it was you at first sending the email,but to my horror some b*****d has well and truley ripped my name,logo and design off,if he is a member on here show yourself you lowlife sc*m and explain!,Gaz

[rosskesava]

It's a pity you couldn't get all his mobile calls diverted to your mobile.

I knows it's a nasty cheap thing to do, nicking someone elses ideas but on a plus side, you'll get more advertising as the more times someone thinks they see 'your van', the more work you'll get.

The 'minus' side of it is he'll get more work also.

I think the blokes got one hell of a nerve.

What I cannot work out is how did he copy the sign so dead acurately?

[Jon T.C.]

this person lives in the west mids area - dudley, stourbridge

according to the area code

[H h20]

Ross,he is either a member on here and copied them off my photo,or has seen my vehicle somewhere and taken photos,would anyone else do this  ,Gaz 

[matt]

it is slightly differnet though

the line off the A is at a angle

some might see it as flattery though Gaz

on the subject of copying logo's

i know of a few who have the reach and wash logo and the FED logo on vans, they took a picture to a sign writer and he knocked 1 out on the computer (took about 10 mins)

[WavieDavie]

Gaz - Not knowing too much about the lay of the land down there, you're in Staffs and he's from somewhere noted below. If that's a fair distance, it's odds on that he's on Cleanitup.

From www.ukphoneinfo.com . . .

01384 352721
Dudley

Section: Codes in Range 1000-1999 (Mainly Geographic, Convention B3)

Number 01384 352721 is potentially valid.

Oftel records show that numbers starting 01384 35 are allocated to Telewest Communications Plc. Note that due to number portability if an individual number has moved to a different operator this information is not publically available. Oftel's last recorded change for this number range was in July 1994.

A table of the code allocations for other numbers starting 01384 is available

01384 352721 may be on one of the following exchanges in this area:

    * Bobbington 01384
    * Brierley Hill 01384
    * Cradley Heath 01384
    * Dudley 01384
    * Kingswinford 01384
    * Kinver 01384
    * Lye 01384
    * Stourbridge 01384

[matt]

its like the spot the difference this is

ive found something else

he has 4 "water drops" under the "man with a pole logo" watch ionics phone you up about that now

any more differences folks, Dave @st-ives might supply the winner with a bottle of his/her fav tipple, afterall it was his game, thus only fair he supply the prize

[WavieDavie]

Quite  right Matt - it's all about copyright.

[rosskesava]

It's only a violation of copyright laws if it's a registered trademark.

The thing is it is quite complex to get sign writing done when it's a copy.

Is the sign writing the stick on type?

If it is then it is really hard to copy unless the person/business who did the rouge traders sign writing had the same program.

If it's been painted on, then the sign writer has a really exceptional ability.

There are differences but in the main, it's almost an exact replica which I find odd.

[JohnL]

Its dead easy to take a photo of something, transfer it to an image manipulation app then copy the bits you want and resize it to fit a new location. Its a 15 minute job for someone with the right app and if you are a sign writer you will have that technology.

Thats what has happened here imho

and to me this blatant copying is totally out of order

JohnL

[ronaldo]

How do you lot no that Gaz hasent copied him?

[steveaqua]

Illustrator would have that logo copied in no time at all!

why would someone copy another company seems strange to me. Not unless he lives close to you and you have a good rep and he knows about it maybe? tryed to have some of your customers? I don't know just seems odd.

You haven't had a worker that you have showed to much to have you? thats what i get nervous of. not the name and logo being ripped off, just my business being at risk

[ronaldo]

I would say Steve that looking at the two vehicles, the transit is older and the sign writing has faded a bit and its been on that van longer than Gaz,s has been on his, but i really doubt if there has been any copying though, i would imagine they have both seen it somewhere and used it.
Gaz you could try asking SCS if he knows of them as i,m sure he is in Cradley Heath and thats 01384.

[steveaqua]

I would say Steve that looking at the two vehicles, the transit is older and the sign writing has faded a bit and its been on that van longer than Gaz,s has been on his, but i really doubt if there has been any copying though, i would imagine they have both seen it somewhere and used it.
Gaz you could try asking SCS if he knows of them as i,m sure he is in Cradley Heath and thats 01384.

Are you a private eye in your spare time 

still seems odd having two identical companys like that.

[rosskesava]

It's rarely that a business is at risk by being copied. If people think the two vans belong to one company then how does it put the business at risk? Twice the coverage means that potential customers notice more. That is how advertising works.

They will phone one number or the other and not just phone the 'other' and ignore the first.

I still find it strange.

When we had our vans sign written with stick on type sign writing and we wanted what was on one vehicle copied and sign written to the other, the different shape of the vehicle meant that it cost a bomb to convert the program from one vehicle to the other. We did try loads of companies but the cost was about the same.

This person must have spent some money to copy Gaz's sign writing.

Also, up to this point in time, and this is the really relevant question, has Gaz's business suffered as a result?

[steveaqua]

It's rarely that a business is at risk by being copied. If people think the two vans belong to one company then how does it put the business at risk?

If that refers to my comments i meant showing workers to much of your business puts you at risk not two sign written vans!

[ronaldo]

Ross, i wouldnt think Gaz would suffer as a result of this as there is a fair distance between the 2 and they wouldnt be working in each others home town, well i would be very surprised if they were.

[rosskesava]

Oh....

I thought for some reason they were in the same town.

That changes things.

Then the person according to the odds must have been a member of this forum.

Sorry.... der .....

I agree about not showing a worker to much of your business. How much is too much? That is a real tricky one. I have no answer to that question.