Garret from HipChat here - We obviously agree that lots of apps have used chat bubbles in logos over the years. In fact, probably way too many. The only reason its an issue this time around is that our users are genuinely confused when they try to use both apps. This didn't happen when they used iChat, Echofon, or any other bubble-logoed apps alongside HipChat. The new Messages icon is similar enough that it's a problem, and we don't want our users to be confused.
In fact to me it looks like the new Messages logo is derived from the old iChat logo with some of the skew removed and another bubble added. Nothing to see here...
Because (a) IRC is relatively dead (b) it sent a bunch of funny formatting codes which are a mess to read if you're not using Comic Chat too and everyone else was annoyed with that (c) it's kind of hard to find a copy these days.
Agree on the no controversy. I went looking to make a chat icon for a project about a week ago, and looked on dribbble to see some ideas before I started. Chat icons all looked the same. I found examples that looked nearly identical to the hipChat icon and did something similar in my own icon. Never heard of hipChat but the logo is not original or unthought of. I can't see a problem here.
It's a pretty generic logo, so I highly doubt Apple copied this design.
I'll cross post what I wrote on their blog:
"Perhaps you can take this opportunity to make the icon more refined. Apple's icon is how good the HipChat icon could have looked (and don't get me wrong, I love HipChat). Maybe that same amount of polish could go in to the new icon?"
Alternatively, they could go for something more radically different. This actually seems like a nice opportunity.
In another post in HN comments, he stated that their users were confused about the two different icons. That seems to be more the reason that they are changing their icons.
Where was the part where they created controversy? They stated that several of their users noticed the similarity. Article just states that it could create confusion for users, nothing more.
Do I think they copied us? Probably not (but as a designer, I’ll take the compliment).
"I am not saying the man is beating his wife, but (...)" is to perpetuate the idea instead of just plainly saying "I don't think they copied us". It reads like something out of an antagonistic lawyer from a procedural TV show. We need a Spock take on this.
My comment was a response to the original title of the submission, which read something along the lines of "HipChat comment on Apple logo plagiarism rumours" or something to that effect more so than the post itself.
It's not a press release, it's a blog post, on the company's blog, about why that company is changing its logo. It's not written for journalists in the first place.
What company that maintains a company blog wouldn't make a post when they do something as significant as change their logo? It's their own blog, not a press release.
To be honest, when you start designing generic icons like Messages/chat, things start to get pretty hazy. But I like how Hipchat is taking this as a chance to create a better icon.
Also to play devil's advocate, the blue is the an evolution of the Hipchat blue, and the stripes an addition from the Messages/iMessages icons on iOS.
#2 is kind of depressing: it doesn't even matter if we are in the right, because they have more money.
Now, I don't know if trademarks need to be registered, and I'm not taking a position on whether this is valid or not -- but note that they specifically aren't saying anything like "we didn't register the trademark so it was fair game, oops". They're saying it doesn't matter.
Is this actually how it would have played out? What's the point of having legal protections if the big guy can always squash the little guy anyway?
No. If they had registered it and it was sufficiently distinctive/original (questionable here, but that's beside the point), then they would have a relatively straightforward case. Big firms settle cases like this all the time.
Unrelatedly, here at Zite we use HipChat and it's pretty awesome, especially since we have offices in two countries.
Obviously, any kind of IM will "work" as a collaboration tool, but having a polished experience really matters. The persistence is key (start up hipchat and it'll show the conversation before you joined). Also, tons of little touches like being able to copy&paste images from your clipboard directly into chat.
Perhaps you should also show Apple's original iChat logo, which you simply reused as your own (with the same shape and color) after changing the direction of the "gloss" sheen and shadowing it with a flipped, black and white version. You ripped off iChat's logo. Apple did not sue you. You did not create something original and protected.
Apple's "new" Messages icon has less similarity with yours than yours had with iChat. Apple's refreshed iChat logo also conveys some functional meaning, with its ellipsis.
Insinuating that Apple owes you something for your slightly derivative version of its iChat logo is ridiculous. You would have sounded far more legitimate (and would probably have gotten more attention for your product) if you'd instead thanked Apple for inspiration for the icon of your next Mtn Lion release (a flatter, glowing but less glossy icon), and then talked about what your product does that is novel or interesting.
I noticed that also. A customer asked me to install HipChat yesterday morning and later in the day I installed Mountain Lion. The icons ended up close together on my dock, and I did a double take this morning.
I find this blog post ridiculous, considering HipChat includes emoticons ripped straight from iChat. Pot meet Kettle. Surprised nobody's noticed or mentioned this yet.
In fact, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of diversity when it comes to chat icons in general: http://www.google.com/search?q=chat%20icon&oe=UTF-8&...
I really don't think there's a controversy here.