Branding dispute between UK and India association bodies

Sometimes, irony writes itself. Almost as soon as India’s Society of Association Executives (SAE) launched with lofty declarations of solidarity and collaboration, it is having to fend off allegations of practising the opposite.

India’s newly launched Society of Association Executives (SAE) is facing early scrutiny over its branding, following concerns raised by the UK-based Association of Association Executives (AAE) about similarities between the two organisations’ logos and names.

The AAE, founded 12 years ago, has involved its lawyers to issue a legal warning over SAE’s branding similarities, Association Meetings International (AMI) reported. AAE founder and executive director Damian Hutt told AMI that the similarities could cause confusion when AAE engages with its 2,400 India-based association executives and holds leadership summits in Delhi.

AAE and SAE’s logos share similar layouts and graphical elements – notably a team huddle icon on the left – though they differ in colour schemes, fonts, and finer design details.

“It clearly looks like our brand as I've already had several people asking me if it has anything to do with us… No other organisation in our field has felt the need to have the same type of logo – that distinctive huddle of people. Morally, I think they have a duty to change that,” Hutt told AMI.

When contacted by M&C Asia, Kalpana Uberoi, one of SAE’s founding members, said the similarities were coincidental and not deliberate.

“They are in the UK and SAE is in India. There are no connections. We have no vested interests, and they have no (registered) trademark in India,” Uberoi stated.

So far, there does not appear to be a legal violation. The jury is still out on whether a branding update should happen out of moral obligation, or in the name of the collaborative spirit that associations espouse.

M&C Asia had previously reached out to Uberoi about the mention of both a “Society of Indian Associations” (SIA) and “SAE” in a press release announcing the launch. Seemingly, “SIA” and “SAE” were used interchangeably to refer to the same organisation – which may point to an internal drafting lapse that failed to update all mentions of “SIA” to “SAE”.

When asked if the association was originally meant to be named SIA before deciding on SAE instead, Uberoi was firm that this was not the case and denied any knowledge of SIA.

SAE’s lawyers are working on a professional reply to AAE.