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I want to prevent copy right infringement and therefore I don't use logos or fonts of companies on a site where I want to list them.

So it came to my mind to just use a standard open source font and mention the companies by name, but use their logo colors for the text and background.

I want to use the names (html+css) on my personal website to show a list of companies I have been working for on past projects.

With this in mind, does it represent a trademark violation?

For example:

enter image description here

Would this be legal?

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There are quite a few misunderstandings in your question.

First, company logos and names are protected by trademark, not copyright. The goals of trademark protections are very different from those of copyright, with the main purpose being to prevent confusion about the source of goods or services.

Second, using the name or logo of a company is not automatically a trademark violation. You can freely use the name "Coca-Cola", or even the script logo, to refer to the company or its products, as long as you don't do so in a way that implies you are, represent, or have been endorsed by the Coca-Cola company. The usual way to do that is with a disclaimer and acknowledgement of trademark ownership, but that's not strictly necessary.

Your idea of using the name and colors, but not the font, could actually be counterproductive: it could be seen as an attempt to circumvent trademark protections. Either use the bare name in an ordinary typeface, or use the full logo, but don't go halfway.

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  • Logos are also protected by copyright as creative works. Using the logo is likely to be a violation, as it isn't necessary, while stating the name of the company is acceptable as nominative use.
    – user4657
    Commented Feb 4, 2020 at 7:07
  • I definitely cannot use the logos. I want to use the names (html+css) as explained in my post on my personal website to show a list of companies I have been working for on past projects. With this in mind, does it represent a trademark violation? Showing a list of names without brand colors looks ugly...
    – Legends
    Commented Feb 4, 2020 at 13:28
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    It's also worth noting that often specific colors or combinations of them are separately registered as trademarks. For example UPS "The mark consists of the color chocolate brown, which is the approximate equivalent of Pantone Matching System 462C, as applied to the entire surface of vehicles and uniforms."(tsdr.uspto.gov/…)
    – Peteris
    Commented Feb 4, 2020 at 18:03

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