Got a cease and desist from a client's old agency for using a similar tagline

Three months ago, we signed a new client in the home services space. We wrote them a fresh brand guide, including a new tagline we thought was solid. Fast forward to last Tuesday, I opened my email to a legal letter from a firm representing the client's previous agency. They claimed our tagline, 'Solutions Built for Home,' was too close to their old one, 'Home Solutions Built.' The client never mentioned this old tagline existed. We spent the next two days with our lawyer going over the old contract and the client's asset transfer. Turns out the old agency still had a claim on some intellectual property because the client left before their contract term was up. Has anyone else had a client's past agency agreements come back to bite them like this? How do you vet for these hidden IP traps now?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charlie8h ago

Been there (got sued over a font the client swore they owned).

derek9944m ago

But wait, doesn't the designer have some duty to check that stuff too? I mean, if a client gives you a font, you can't just take their word for it. A quick check on the license feels like part of the job to me. Getting sued over it is rough, but it seems like both sides dropped the ball.

brown.gavin5h ago

Wait, they left before the contract was up? That's a mess the client should have told you about.