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ARTICLE · 23 OCTOBER 2020

Unique Business Logo Creates Evidentiary Path To Product Identification

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
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A logo can be a first impression akin to the front door of a business. In Hart v. Keenan Properties, Inc., the logo "was the letter "K" drawn to resemble a straight pipe and an angled pipe, enclosed in a circle."

United StatesConsumer Protection
Angela Hampton
Angela Hampton

A logo can be a first impression akin to the front door of a business. In Hart v. Keenan Properties, Inc., the logo "was the letter "K" drawn to resemble a straight pipe and an angled pipe, enclosed in a circle." The California Supreme Court decision ruled that this unique business logo can create an evidentiary path for product identification in product liability cases.

The court granted review "to determine whether a company's name and logo appearing on an invoice can constitute hearsay." The answer: not in this case. "Under the facts presented, a witness's observation of the name and logo was circumstantial evidence of identity, not proof of the truth of the matters asserted in the document."

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