Lacoste and Crocodile Garments
THE world-famous Lacoste trademark is a crocodile, which faces right and was used as early as 1933 by French tennis legend Rene Lacoste. As early as the 1950s, Crocodile Garments used a crocodile logo which faces left.
When Crocodile Garments attempted to register its trademark in China in the 1990s, Lacoste opposed the same. It was only in 2003 that a compromise was reached between the two parties.
As part of the settlement, Crocodile Garments agreed to change its logo as follows: the tail of its crocodile rises more or less vertically, its skin is much more scaly, and it has bigger eyes. This compromise allows Crocodile Garments to compete legally against Lacoste in China.
sourced from : http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/lacoste-vs-crocodile
Interesting tid bit, apparently compromises can be arrived at even by direct competitors. As with Apple computer and Apple Records.