Silmen VS Siemens

Some years ago when I designed my trademark, I met challenges from Siemens but finally I won.

I was working in Marriott Hotel when I received an email from Siemens’s lawyer. That guy threatened me, saying that I was trying to damage Siemens’s brand honour. I was confused because our logo designs were significantly different. I explained that silmen was a vocabulary in Manchu. But that guy was very arrogant and completely ignored my explanation.

He just wanted a result to win. But did this happen? No. He couldn’t fool me because he came from a big company. Justice belongs to the right people. Siemens didn’t sell any wooden mallets or other hand tools. In DIY area, I came first. So both of us refused to step back. It seemed that we were going to a war. But after calming down, we decided to make a deal…Now I can still use my trademark but with some limitations. Anyway, maybe my trademark can last longer than Siemens? Who knows?

So why did I choose Silmen as my trademark? And how did I design the logo?

I am a bird fan, especially like bird of prey. My favourite bird of prey is sparrow hawk. In Manchu, sparrow hawks are called silmen. I used to dream of being a sparrow hawk and flying throughout the world when I was young. So I named my business Silmen. I was very poor when it was time to design a logo. To save money, I did it by myself.

I drew a circle, making it easier to be tape them on my thread products. I liked circle because I thought it meant balance. Red colour meant passion and ambition. I placed a red Silmen in the middle of the circle and put the 4 Ys around it. Then my logo came to the world.

The story had a happy ending, did it?