I am not sure what element you think others had first. The check mark for the "V" is something I asked for in my comments so I consider that open for all designers - no one got there first.
yes i know .. but it's not the checkmark..the problem it's the shield.. first I saw your comment in general, and then I create something that you say in comment. but hestia logo court my entries and he said he's first using this concept (shied) and your comment adding after he submit their entries.
Oh, I see. Hmmm. Since I was running this contest in parallel with Sotivia and had suggested a shield there before any of the designers had used one, I had not realized that if someone used it in this contest, they would consider they owned that here. I wanted to make sure the elements that were potentially most appealing were generic for everyone to use. That explains why no one else has a shield.