Use of General Motors Logo / Trademark

[David A.]

Hi Everyone

A friend of mine wants to use the GM logo in some promotional material for his small business. He has tried contacting GM via email using their generic contact address but has not had a response after repeated requests. I can't find any info via google or other discussion forums on this for him. I am wondering if anyone knows who specifically he can contact and if they have any standard terms and conditions of use?

thanks very much

David Alder

[Don H.]

Re: Use of General Motors Logo / Trademark

You are joking, right?


I'm no lawyer, so do not treat this as legal advice, but move on to Plan "B". Nothing resembling GM's trademarked logos or likenesses are available for your friend to use on his small business. And, I would not expect anyone from corporate or even your local dealership to reply to any emails or phone messages.

[David A.]

Re: Use of General Motors Logo / Trademark

Hi Don,
Thanks for your quick reply.
No I am not joking. I have seen many businesses using the logo (no idea whether they have permission). My friend just wants to do the right thing and get pre-approval. As you say perhaps Plan B makes more sense and he is unlikely to get any reply.
regards
David

[Loren L.]

Re: Use of General Motors Logo / Trademark

Try any of the companies that are selling "GM Reproduction" parts and ask them who they deal with and send the $$$$ to.

[Alan B.]

Re: Use of General Motors Logo / Trademark

Working for a company that supplies to GM or any of the other auto companies you can get permission to use their logo in presentations through your Purchasing Agent. It's very common to have a presentation that says "Major Customers" and show their logos - but if you want to use their logo to attract attention to your business and you don't have a relationship with them, that's a different story.

[Frank E.]

Re: Use of General Motors Logo / Trademark

I did this for our club back in 2004. Don't know if they're still representing GM but it's a start. Contact the following....

Equity Management Inc.
201 W. Big Beaver Road
Suite 1101
Troy, MI 48084

248 680-9150


Frank

[Dick W.]

Re: Use of General Motors Logo / Trademark

Equity Management handles all the logo licensing. Me thinks they are out of the Chicago area. Maybe someone else can chime in on that

[John H.]

Re: Use of General Motors Logo / Trademark

I did this for our club back in 2004. Don't know if they're still representing GM but it's a start. Contact the following....

Equity Management Inc.
201 W. Big Beaver Road
Suite 1101
Troy, MI 48084

248 680-9150


Frank

They also manage the requirements/fees/licensing/royalties/contracts for the "GM Restoration Parts" program.

[David A.]

Re: Use of General Motors Logo / Trademark

thank you to everyone for your assistance, it is much appreciated. I will pass on the details to my friend and let you know how it goes.

David

[Anthony P.]

Re: Use of General Motors Logo / Trademark

Back in 2005 I had talked with Equity Management about doing some artwork with various GM logos (this would have been products I sold as part of my showboard business). (Things are different for clubs and other non profit uses)

It took me a month to get to this point, and once I did, they were talking a number of fees and things got to the point where I would have had to sell $40k in products (products with these logos) per year for it to start to make sense, so I dropped it.

I had even looked into a craft license (I think that is what it was called), for doing limited quantities, and that was not offered.