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Originally Posted by Joe Ross
I think it's fairly clear what's happened.
Think about the evolution of the FIRST logo. First they added a TM symbol to it, then SM. They new logo is a Registered Trademark.
Years ago, everybody modified the FIRST logo for whatever they wanted. Then FIRST asked people to ask for permission before modifying the logo, and pretty much allowed almost all modifications. Then in the last year or two, they became much more strict about giving permission, and yet most people modified the logo without asking permission.
As Kevin said, we want FIRST to be able to promote effectively, but the old logo was so commonly modified, they had no real way to defend the tradmark.
So, they had to start over, and now they have a no modification policy. Now they will be able to defend their trademark.
Whether or not you like it, I wouldn't be suprised at all if this is the real reason.
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People are still going to modify the new logo. It's not going to be any different. The old logo was a registered trademark as well (see my signature). No one cares weather or not an image is trademarked, people will still be re-creating it and editing it to suit their needs, with or without permission. I mean, seriously, what is FIRST going to do? If some team with a modified FIRST logo on their t-shirt is at a competition, what would FIRST do? It's not like they will stop you from competing, or file a law-suit against you.
If "defending their trademark" is so important, then why change it? Why not crack down on the offenders and make them "get permission" to modify the logo? Like I said before, FIRST isn't about hurting teams. If anything, the "transition" period where 2 logos will co-exist will be most hurtful for their logo.
A universal logo is (A) never going to exist and (B) wont do them any more good than it already has. Look at the animation entries for the last few years. People try to re-create the FIRST logo in their animations, in 3D. These things get publicized WAY more than just images of people's t-shirts, banners, and robots.
I don't think that their intentions were to be able to "defend their trademark". I just think someone thought it was time for a change.