Many business owners ask us, “ Should I trademark or copyright my logo?”
It’s a great question because it shows they know that they need to protect their logo, even if they don’t quite know how. The good news is that you don’t need to be a legal expert to understand the difference!
Copyright is a right that arises automatically when you create an original literary, artistic, musical, or other creative work. It gives you the exclusive right to use and copy the work, and you can take action against someone who directly copies a substantial part of the work.
Copyright comes with a couple of quirks – in the event that someone copies your logo for example, it can be difficult to prove (1) that you own copyright in your logo and (2) that the copycat actually copied your logo.
A trademark registration provides government authorised protection for your brand – be it a brand name, a logo or a slogan.
If you have registered your logo as a trademark and someone copies your logo, stopping them is a whole lot easier – because you have a trademark registration certificate proving that you own your logo to wave around. Trademark infringement actions are much more straightforward than copyright infringement actions.
Generally, if you use your logo to help consumers identify your products or business, then you need to trademark your logo.
Trademark your logo and protect your brand
For most business owners, registering a trademark for your logo and other brand assets, such as your business name, slogan, or product names will ensure that you have exclusive rights to use them.
It’s important to register your trademarks as soon as possible, whether you are starting up a new business or have already been trading for some time.
Registering a trademark is by far the best way to ensure that you can stop copycats in their tracks. And importantly, it gives you the right to add the trademark symbol ® to your logo to show that you take your brand seriously. This may also help to strengthen the reputation of your brand among your customers
Ensure that your logo qualifies for trademark protection
A logo must be distinctive in order to qualify for trademark protection. The trademark will protect the specific font, image and other visual elements that make up the logo.
Whether you use an online logo generator or hire a professional designer to create a logo from scratch, make sure that it is original, that you get the ownership rights, and that the logo doesn’t resemble the logo of other traders in the same industry.
How to trademark your logo
With Trademark Planet, you can apply for a trademark registration quickly and easily in 4 steps:
1. Upload your unique logo
Add your image to start your application.
2. Select the category
Identify the relevant products or services that your logo represents. For example, are you selling honey, T-shirts or coaching services? Our smart technology makes this part easy!
3. Identify the trademark owner
Who will be responsible for the trademark registration? This could be you as an individual or your business.
4. Submit your application
With Trademark Planet you can submit your trademark application yourself, in minutes using our online trademark registration process.