They may just be chat bubbles, but they’re our chat bubbles
blog.hipchat.com
blog.hipchat.com
In fact, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of diversity when it comes to chat icons in general: http://www.google.com/search?q=chat%20icon&oe=UTF-8&...
I really don't think there's a controversy here.
?
iChat came out in 2002.
http://jens.mooseyard.com/2008/03/the-origin-of-the-ichat-ui...
A very novel UI at the time.. here is a cached version of the broken pic: http://6.media.tumblr.com/MitMvSO0c6w81bbgrsKunjNE_500.png
First demo January 1996: http://kurlander.net/DJ/Videos/ComicChatVideo.shtml
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.06/battlefield_pr.html
"We'll be in the middle of a battle and a bunch of field artillery colonels will come online in the form of these big-breasted blondes."
But it was a fun little client back in the day.
(p.s. Y i no use hipchat? b/c ur face!!1)
I'll cross post what I wrote on their blog: "Perhaps you can take this opportunity to make the icon more refined. Apple's icon is how good the HipChat icon could have looked (and don't get me wrong, I love HipChat). Maybe that same amount of polish could go in to the new icon?"
Alternatively, they could go for something more radically different. This actually seems like a nice opportunity.
Do I think they copied us? Probably not (but as a designer, I’ll take the compliment).
My comment was a response to the original title of the submission, which read something along the lines of "HipChat comment on Apple logo plagiarism rumours" or something to that effect more so than the post itself.
Move on, and focus on the product—not the logo.
Love it.
Also to play devil's advocate, the blue is the an evolution of the Hipchat blue, and the stripes an addition from the Messages/iMessages icons on iOS.
iChat icon: http://ituh.in/dW6U Android Messages (ICS) http://ituh.in/vBy8
Now, I don't know if trademarks need to be registered, and I'm not taking a position on whether this is valid or not -- but note that they specifically aren't saying anything like "we didn't register the trademark so it was fair game, oops". They're saying it doesn't matter.
Is this actually how it would have played out? What's the point of having legal protections if the big guy can always squash the little guy anyway?
Obviously, any kind of IM will "work" as a collaboration tool, but having a polished experience really matters. The persistence is key (start up hipchat and it'll show the conversation before you joined). Also, tons of little touches like being able to copy&paste images from your clipboard directly into chat.
Reminds me of the silly 'cloud' uniqueness debates: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ThereIsOnlyOneCloudIconInTheEn...
Perhaps you should also show Apple's original iChat logo, which you simply reused as your own (with the same shape and color) after changing the direction of the "gloss" sheen and shadowing it with a flipped, black and white version. You ripped off iChat's logo. Apple did not sue you. You did not create something original and protected.
Apple's "new" Messages icon has less similarity with yours than yours had with iChat. Apple's refreshed iChat logo also conveys some functional meaning, with its ellipsis.
Insinuating that Apple owes you something for your slightly derivative version of its iChat logo is ridiculous. You would have sounded far more legitimate (and would probably have gotten more attention for your product) if you'd instead thanked Apple for inspiration for the icon of your next Mtn Lion release (a flatter, glowing but less glossy icon), and then talked about what your product does that is novel or interesting.