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by gabeio 4042 days ago
I feel like it's not/shouldn't be possible to copyright/trademark/etc an element/element's atomic structure unless it's man made.
2 comments

Regardless of whether that's the case, it's probably best to avoid having a logo that looks very similar to another, if only to avoid confusion.

That said, the atomic structure isn't the concern but rather a specific artistic visualization of it which may be protected.

But the copyright (if there is one in this case) isn't on the element, it's on the specific visual interpretation of it for branding purposes.
I still feel like that's basically "copyrighting"/or otherwise the atomic structure of the element...
A filled circle with a ring round it that has an intersecting filled circle is not an accurate representation of how a hydrogen atom looks. It is an artistic simplification. There are any number of ways of interpreting it.