Kelowna

City officials admit the resemblance is uncanny and that questions must be asked.

Kelowna's new logo is under scrutiny now that a similar one has surfaced on the Internet.

The city's new corporate logo was unveiled last month and created a wave of controversy because of the price tag associated with the new design, estimated at $80,000, including consultation and research. The artist, Phred Martin of Splash Design was paid $10,000 and claims the inspiration came from the bottom of a pine cone.

The logo features a circular design with stylized red, yellow, green and blue colours around the inside of the circle -- very similar to a logo created in 2007 by an American company called LandDesign.

LandDesign says the similarity between the two logos is uncanny and is checking into whether there's been a copyright infringement.

Kelowna City Manager, Ron Mattiussi, admits there is a similarity to the two logos that can't be ignored.

"Certainly we can go back and ask the question. There was a check to see if there was something similar out there. At that point, they didn't find it. So we'll go back to Phred and ask him where it came from."

Phred Martin was not available for comment because he's out of the country.

Full video report by Kelly Hayes

Link: City unveils new logo