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Trademark as a Logo: An Overview
A logo, on the other hand, grants rights to a mix of imagery, design, and language. As a result, in comparison to normal word marks, the protection afforded to the words included in a logo is restricted since the rights in a logo are only granted to the logo as a whole.
The following components can be found in a logo design
- Colours
- Text
- Symbols
- Images and fonts
- Fictional characters
- Animals, items, short forms, etc
A trademark as a logo would be acceptable if one wanted to register a stylized look or a mix of stylized words, orientation, form, colour, and design. To put it another way, filing a logo prevents other parties from using it, or any other deceptively similar logo, instead of the text embodied in the mark.
Purpose of Trademarking a Logo
The goal of trademarking a logo is to prevent customers from confusing two brands. When trademarking regulations were enacted, legislators intended to ensure that consumers could tell which company produced which goods or services. Without enough legal protection, any firm might legally change another’s logos, causing consumers to be confused about whose items to purchase.
Before receiving trademark registration, you have two ways of utilising a logo. You may include the TM or SM insignia in your logo. These symbols have no legal significance, but they do serve a purpose: they inform your competitors of your design claim. The symbols also indicate that you intend to file a trademark application.
The letters TM and SM stand for trademark and service mark, respectively. You add TM to a company’s logo if it sells goods and services, and SM to a company’s logo if it sells services.
Wordmark v. Logo
Rather than merely a logo, a company’s brand name frequently consists of both words and logos. In such cases, filing the trademark as both a wordmark and a logo is the safest approach to protect intellectual property. However, because filing multiple trademark applications could be costly, the next best option for businesses looking to save money is to register the trademark as a wordmark.
Trademark and Logo Search
A trademark must be distinctive in order to be legally protected. The designer or business owner should do a comprehensive check of the current trademark registration database before filing an application. If you can’t locate anything comparable, yours should normally be recognised. Hence, it’s better to conduct a trademark search before wasting time and money on an application that will be refused.
Get in touch with the experts at Zolvit for a comprehensive trademark search at the professional level to ensure that no other similar trademarks are registered. Our experts will leave no stones unturned in ensuring that your brand is protected from unwarranted infringement. Contact our team today!
