You've invested in a logo. You're building brand recognition. The natural next question is: how do I protect it?
A trademark is the legal mechanism for that protection. It grants you the exclusive right to use a mark in commerce for specific goods and services, and gives you legal recourse if someone copies or closely imitates it.
This guide covers the practical essentials — what trademark protection involves, how registration works, and what to do before you file. It is not a substitute for legal advice; trademark law is jurisdiction-specific and fact-dependent. Consult a trademark attorney for your specific situation.
What a Trademark Actually Protects
A trademark protects a brand identifier — a logo, name, phrase, or combination thereof — as used in commerce in specific categories of goods and services.
Key concepts:
It's use-based. In common law countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia), trademark rights arise from actual use in commerce, not just registration. You have some common law protection from the moment you start using a distinctive mark in business. Registration extends and formalises those rights.
It's category-specific. A trademark is registered in specific International Classes (Nice Classification), which correspond to categories of goods and services. A clothing brand and a software company can both trademark the same word in their respective classes without conflict.
It protects against confusing similarity, not identical copying only. Trademark infringement doesn't require exact copying — it covers marks that are sufficiently similar that consumers might confuse the source of goods or services. A mark that looks like yours in the same industry is potentially infringing even if it's not identical.
It requires active maintenance. Registered trademarks require periodic renewal (typically every 10 years in the US, every 10 years in the UK/EU) and evidence of continued use. Abandoned marks can be cancelled.
Before You File: Clearance Search
The most expensive trademark mistake is filing without first checking whether your mark is available.
A clearance search looks for:
- Existing registered trademarks identical or confusingly similar to yours in the relevant classes
- Pending applications that might conflict
- Common law marks in use that aren't registered but could be asserted
In the United States, search the USPTO's TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System) database. In the UK, search the IPO's trademark register. In the EU, search EUIPO's eSearch.
Search for:
- The exact mark
- Phonetically similar marks
- Visually similar logos in the same classes
- The mark with common misspellings
If your search finds a conflicting mark, filing will likely result in rejection and you'll have invested application fees (and attorney fees) for nothing. More critically: if you've built a brand around a mark that conflicts with an existing trademark, you may receive a cease-and-desist requiring you to rebrand entirely.
Professional clearance: For meaningful brand investments, hire a trademark attorney or specialist service to perform a comprehensive clearance search before filing. The cost ($300–$1,500) is minor compared to the cost of rebranding after a conflict is discovered post-launch.
What the Logo Design Needs to Be Registrable
Not every logo is trademarkable. The mark must be distinctive — capable of identifying the source of goods or services.
The distinctiveness spectrum (from most to least registrable):
Fanciful (coined): Completely invented words with no prior meaning — Kodak, Xerox, Häagen-Dazs. These are the strongest trademarks because they're inherently distinctive.
Arbitrary: Real words used in an unrelated context — Apple for computers, Amazon for retail. Strong trademark position.
Suggestive: Words that suggest a quality without describing it directly — Netflix, Greyhound (for a bus company). Registrable but requires some showing of distinctiveness.
Descriptive: Words that describe the goods or services — "Fresh Bread Bakery." Difficult to register without showing acquired distinctiveness through long use.
Generic: The common name for the goods or services. Not registrable.
For purely graphic logos (without text), the visual distinctiveness standard applies. A unique, original mark design is generally registrable. A common geometric shape (a plain circle, a basic arrow) used alone is often too generic.
This is why logo design quality matters for trademark purposes: a distinctive, original mark is both a stronger brand asset and a stronger trademark. Generic or template-based logos are weak on both dimensions.
The Registration Process (United States)
Step 1: Decide between use-based filing (Section 1(a)) — you're already using the mark in commerce — and intent-to-use (Section 1(b)) — you plan to use it. Intent-to-use reserves the priority date while you prepare to launch.
Step 2: Identify the correct International Classes for your goods and services. Fees are per class.
Step 3: Prepare the application. Required elements include: the mark (the logo image file), the filing basis, the classes and goods/services description, and (for use-based) a specimen showing the mark in use.
Step 4: File through the USPTO's TEAS (Trademark Electronic Application System). Current fees: $250–$350 per class, depending on filing type.
Step 5: Examination. A USPTO examining attorney reviews the application (typically 3–6 months after filing). They may issue an Office Action requesting clarification or raising issues.
Step 6: Publication in the Official Gazette for 30 days, allowing third parties to oppose registration.
Step 7: Registration. If no opposition, the mark registers. Total timeline from filing to registration: typically 12–18 months.
The Registration Process (United Kingdom / EU)
UK: Apply through the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) at gov.uk/topic/intellectual-property/trade-marks. Fee: £170 for one class online, £50 per additional class. Timeline: ~4 months if no objections.
EU (EUTM): Apply through EUIPO. A single EUTM registration covers all EU member states. Fee: €850 for one class, €50 for the second, €150 for each additional. Timeline: ~4 months if no objections.
Post-Brexit, UK and EU registrations are separate. A UK registration doesn't cover EU use; an EU registration doesn't cover the UK.
Logo File Requirements for Trademark Filing
When filing a logo trademark (as opposed to a word mark), you need to submit an image of the mark:
- USPTO: JPEG, PNG, or PDF; maximum 5MB; clear black and white version preferred (for word and design marks); colour version if claiming colour as a feature
- UK IPO: JPEG or PNG, clear image of the mark
- EUIPO: JPEG or PNG, minimum 400×400 pixels, maximum 2MB
The image should be a clean, clear representation of the mark as you intend to use it. A well-produced professional logo file (the result of proper vectorization or design work) exports cleanly for these purposes.
What Trademark Registration Does Not Cover
Trademark registration is not copyright. Copyright protects the artistic expression of a work (it arises automatically when you create an original work). Trademark protects the commercial identifier. They can overlap, but they're separate forms of protection.
A trademark also doesn't stop someone in a different country from using the same mark (unless you have registrations in that country). International trademark coverage requires separate applications or international filing systems (the Madrid Protocol for multi-country applications).
For the design work that produces a distinctive, registrable mark, see our logo design service and brand identity service.
Investing in a logo worth protecting?
We design original, distinctive marks built for brand longevity — and built to support trademark registration. Start with a logo that's worth owning.
First, conduct a clearance search to confirm no conflicting marks exist. Then file a trademark application with the relevant office — the USPTO in the US ($250–$350 per class), the IPO in the UK (£170 for one class), or EUIPO for EU coverage. Include an image of the logo and specify the goods/services classes. Registration takes 12–18 months in the US, ~4 months in the UK and EU.
Not immediately, but it's wise before you've invested significantly in brand building. Common law trademark rights arise from use, but registered trademarks are easier to enforce and give nationwide priority from the filing date. For businesses planning to scale, license their brand, or operate in markets where trademark squatting is common, registration is important.
The tool used to create the logo doesn't affect trademarkability — what matters is whether the mark is distinctive and not confusingly similar to existing marks. AI-generated logos can be trademarked if they're original and distinctive. However, logos built from template elements or stock icons in Canva may lack sufficient originality or could conflict with marks from other users of the same template.
With a registered trademark, you can send a cease-and-desist letter, file an opposition against similar pending applications, and sue for infringement. Without registration, you have common law rights but they're harder and more expensive to enforce. In both cases, consulting a trademark attorney is the right first step when infringement is discovered.
A registered trademark can last indefinitely as long as you renew it and continue using it in commerce. In the US, renewal is required between the 5th and 6th year after registration, then every 10 years. In the UK and EU, renewal is every 10 years. The mark can also be cancelled if it becomes generic (the brand name becomes the product name — 'escalator' and 'aspirin' were once trademarks).
™ (TM) can be used by anyone claiming trademark rights, registered or not — it's an assertion of common law trademark use. ® (R in a circle) can only be used once the trademark is officially registered with the relevant trademark office. Using ® on an unregistered mark is illegal in most jurisdictions.