We evaluate each potential violation on its own merits. It's not uncommon for similar designs to appear in the marketplace. We don't presume that every time we've found a design was infringed, that the infringement was intentional.
With few exceptions, we protect IP with a “3 Strikes” policy:
If a creative infringes on another creative’s intellectual property on three separate occasions, we permanently remove them from the site. We use a number of different tools and procedures to help us make sure that they are unable to work on crowdspring ever again.
Because we evaluate each incident on its own merits, we recognize that a blanket 3 strikes policy might not be appropriate for all cases. We have, on occasion, acted after only one or two violations of intellectual property, depending on the circumstances. We also consider temporary suspensions, in place of outright banning, as occasionally appropriate.
In logo projects, we have a zero tolerance policy for the use of stock art. For such violations, we remove the offending creative immediately.