Action 2000 acts over use of bug logo

Action 2000, the DTI-sponsored company set up to advise UK businesses about the millennium bug, is taking legal action against computer companies which use its name or logo as an endorsement.

Niki Akhurst, Action 2000 marketing director, says: “Companies are using and requesting to use the Action 2000 logo as an endorsement for their product. If we let them, we could be liable.”

She says the products with the false endorsements are not in retail outlets, but are being offered through direct mail.

The Action 2000 logo is trademarked, and the infringements are “going through our lawyers”, according to Akhurst. However, the millennium bug logo, which features a black bug in a yellow triangle, is not currently trademarked.

Action 2000 launched its 10m awareness campaign through FCA! earlier this month. To date it has appeared on posters and in the press, and TV advertising is scheduled to break at the end of August.

George Pitcher, page 25

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