Do you copyright a logo [With Pictures]

Last updated : Sept 19, 2022

Do you need to copyright your logo?

Yes. A logo that includes artistic or design elements, (i.e. not just the name on its own), is legally regarded as being a work of artistic creation and therefore will be protected under copyright law. Copyright protects the logo as an artistic work.

How do you copyright a logo legally?

All you need to do is register your ownership of your copyright with the Office for United States Copyrighting. You can do this either by sending a document in through the mail or submitting an application online. Typically, and at the time of publication, it costs between $35 and $85 to officially copyright a logo.

Should I copyright or trademark my logo?

How to legally protect your logo design. To protect your logo, you need a trademark or service mark (trademarks are generally used for products, while service marks are usually applied to services). You should not copyright or patent a logo design.

Are logo images copyrighted?

The simple answer: Logos are not copyrighted, they are actually trademarked. Whether or not legal action is taken for replicating a trademarked logo is fully up to the company or entity that owns the trademark. A company still has legal rights to their logo even if it's not trademarked.

Can someone steal my logo?

Logo theft is a violation that occurs when one party steals or uses another party's trademarked logo without their permission. This is a more specific term for trademark infringement, and can take many forms. It typically involves the theft of a trademark or a service mark.

How much does it cost to copyright a logo?

What Does it Cost to Trademark a Logo? The cost to trademark a logo with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is $275–$660 as of June 2020, plus legal fees. You can register a trademark with your state for $50-$150, but federal registration offers a great deal more legal protection.

How do I protect my logo and brand?

1. Do a trademark search in USPTO or EUIPO for similar trademarks to make sure yours doesn't conflict with another registered mark.
2. Complete a trademark application.
3. Wait and monitor for progress.

How do I copyright my brand?

Registering a trademark for a company name is pretty straightforward. Many businesses can file an application online in less than 90 minutes, without a lawyer's help. The simplest way to register is on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site, www.uspto.gov.

How do I protect my business name and logo?

A trademark can protect the name of your business, goods, and services at a national level. Trademarks prevent others in the same (or similar) industry in the United States from using your trademarked names.

When should I trademark my logo?

The best strategy is to think about trademarks from the very beginning—ideally, when you're choosing your business name and logo and forming your business entity. Your business name can form the core of your brand, and it can also create serious trademark issues.

Is the Nike logo copyrighted?

Nike's shoe technology (Nike AIR) is a patent. The Nike Air bubble is functional and has a scientific purpose. The color of the shoe and design could be a copyright as it is artful in nature. Contrast those with the “Nike” name and logo, and the swoosh on the shoe, as all are trademarks of Nike.

Can you copyright a logo made on canva?

Canva's logo templates are customizable and can be used by anyone. This means that your rights to the logo are non-exclusive and you can't register it as a trademark.

Do I own my logo?

LEGALLY, the original creator of any piece of art, which includes logos, owns all copyrights to the art. The client owns the logo, ONLY after the artist signs over all rights to the logo to them.

What happens if you copyright a logo?

Once the logo is registered with the USPTO, a trademark owner will have exclusive rights to use the logo within the approved goods or services class anywhere in the U.S. The owner may sue for any unlawful use of the logo, and may file to stop foreign goods with your logo from being imported into the U.S.

Can I sue if someone uses my logo?

Any time your company uses a logo to identify its products or services, you establish common-law trademark rights. Common-law trademark rights may allow you to sue a competitor to prevent it from using your logo, particularly if it is in a way that attempts to portray itself as your company to consumers.

How do I make sure my logo isn't stolen?

Hire a business lawyer to help you register your business logo on a federal level, through the United States Patent and Trademark Office. While you have the option of registering it on a local level, federal registration offers the best protection against your logo being stolen by another business.

Can someone else copyright my logo?

You're only securing your rights to it since it is something you have created and it is your intellectual property. A trademark can protect your name and logo in case someone else wants to use them for their own purposes. Also, you cannot really copyright a name, since copyright protects artistic works.

How long does copyright last?

The term of copyright for a particular work depends on several factors, including whether it has been published, and, if so, the date of first publication. As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.

What is the difference between copyright and trademark?

Copyright protects original work, whereas a trademark protects items that distinguish or identify a particular business from another. Copyright is generated automatically upon the creation of original work, whereas a trademark is established through common use of a mark in the course of business.

How close can a logo be and not be a copyright infringement?

It is true that a logo needs to be different than existing logos to be legally used, but the 20 percent rule -- or 25 percent rule, depending on whom you ask -- is little more than a myth. There is no percentage that is applied to cases like this.

Check these related keywords for more interesting articles :
Wipo trademark fees calculator
How to copyright original artwork
How can we protect intellectual property rights
How many us patents have been granted
What is intellectual property copyright fair use
Intellectual property lawyer las vegas
How to find trademark information
Does it cost anything to trademark a name
What are the key intellectual property issues
How to trademark logo uk
How to copyright an online course
Trademark vs copyright a name
Intellectual property essay outline
Godaddy trademark infringement form
When does the trademark on mickey mouse expire

Write a comment

is your local design being held hostage by the Creator let me sound a little bit dramatic but in some instances that is exactly what is happening you may feel that once you've had your local design created and you've handed over the cash that you own that local design but that's not the case in all instances sometimes the local designer will actually retain the copyright of the design and that puts you in a sticky position when you want to take a look at trademarking that logo you just won't be able to do it because you don't legally form the copyright to that local design so what can you do to ensure that when you get a little created you do own the copyright well the first thing to do before you start working with any designer is to ask them about their terms and conditions what happens once the local design has been completed that way it will be up front and center and clear to you how that designer works whenever anyone creates a piece of work in the UK at any rate copyright is automatically assigned to the Creator the Creator has to actively assign the copyright over to someone else in my case once the client has paid me for the logo design I complete a copyright assignment form sign it and date it and hand that to the client that then transfers that copyright to that local design fully over to them and they can do what they want with that design if that doesn't happen you may run into some issues where you may even want to make a simple change to your local design but you can't do because the designer may refuse to do it not a great way for a designer to act but there are instances of that happening personally I just don't think it's the done thing I feel that all designers if paid for the work that they do they should be handing over the copyright of the logo design to the client there may be some deals made maybe the client doesn't have the full budget to pay that designers fees and so the designer and the client come to an agreement that the designer will retain copyright maybe until further payment is made down the line or maybe there's an agreement where the designer holds on to the copyright in order to secure future work where they are given any design work related to marketing materials or stationery where the logo must be used and as such they guarantee a future income these are the kinds of things that you really should find out before you hire your designer this will stop you getting into any legal battles after the fact which could actually cost you more money and it will cost you more of your valuable time so don't let your local be held hostage by any designers do your due diligence before you start and everything will be a-okay make sure you like this video if you have enjoyed it and find it useful and also subscribe to my youtube channel for more videos with brand and design advice just like this and once you do subscribe make sure you hit a little bell icon and you'll be notified whenever I release a new video if you're also looking for any design or branding help make sure to visit my website at pixels ENCOM and you can book a power over call with me and we can have a chat and solve any issues that you may be having until I see you in the next video stay creative folks

Thanks for your comment Bob Melaun, have a nice day.
- Emogene Koehnen, Staff Member

hi everyone I'm attorney aid in Durham with 180 la Co in Denver Colorado and welcome back to all up in your business in this episode of all up in your business I'm gonna talk about trademarks and copyrights and especially what they mean when it comes to a logo for your business but first let's address the fact that they're things look a little different around here that's right there are some changes going on behind the scenes at all up in your business I have relocated to beautiful sunny San Diego back to my hometown so bear with me as things might be changing in the background while I'm still unpacking and getting stuff organized and figuring out where things are gonna go you might also be wondering what's going on with this girl's hair well for those of you who have wavy frizzy hair you'll understand that if you live in a place with even a touch of humidity just straightening doesn't work so I'm embracing it and this is what I look like now so we're all just gonna have to get used to it all right and last thing before we get into it be sure to LIKE subscribe and share and I check the description for more information and additional resources and stuff too alright so in my last video I talked to you guys about some things that people commonly think are trademarks but that are not actually trademarks and in that video I mentioned really briefly that sometimes something can be both protected by trademarks and by copyright law and most commonly this applies to logos or other kinds of designs that are used for businesses and this of course raised a lot more questions from you guys about should I worry about copyright protection for my logo or should I be copywriting my logo or should I get a trademark and some just more questions coming up about how trademarks and copyrights work together specifically when it comes to logo designs that are used in so that's what we are going to dive into today specifically should you worry about a copyright a trademark or both when it comes to your business's logo so a little quick background for those of you who may not already be familiar a trademark trademark law protects words phrases logos designs symbols that are used by a business to indicate the source of their goods or services basically it prevents your competitors from using your trademark on the same or similar types of goods or services a copyright on the other hand protects creative and artistic expressions and copyright prevents anybody aside from the copyright holder from using or distributing the copyrighted work and so it's not completely uncommon for a logo to be protected under both trademark law and copyright law because a logo can be used as a source indicator for a business that's how commonly a logo is used but a logo can also be considered a work of art or a work of creative expression so a logo or some kind of a design that's used for a business can fall into both trademark and copyright categories but that's not always the case in order to be protected under copyright the logo has to have some creative or artistic element to it it can't just be stylized wording or stylized text or just common shapes or symbols it it must possess at least some minimal degree of creativity now what is that minimal degree of creativity mean there's no there's no real answer I can't tell you what that degree of minimal creativity has to be but it has to exist essentially it's like we'll know it when it's there we'll know it when it's not there and when we don't know is when these questions go into the legal process and that's how we decide this thing did have some creative expression or you know enough artistic element to it versus this thing didn't but for the most part the thing that you want to remember when it comes to copyrights is that familiar designs common patterns familiar symbols and shapes and then just designs and typography or font or text those things aren't going to be enough of a creativity or an artistic element to qualify under copyright so let's take my 180 loco logo for example this logo is a trademark because I use it as one it's a symbol and some words and a design that when I use it I'm using it as a way to indicate to the consuming public that this logo means you're working with me when you see this logo that means you're dealing with me so it's a trademark but you know it's not just words it's got this little you know circle to it and a little bit of design element to it but it's not a copyright it's not protected under copyright it's really just a circle kind of a half circle with some dots and the 180 in it and some extra words so while there is some design and creativity to it it's nothing unique it's not an art artistic expression I'm just taking commonly used shapes and make them into something that is a trademark for me so in this case my logo doesn't really qualify under copyright protection but it is edible for trademark for the record I don't have a registered trademark for my company's logo it's frankly it's not that important to me again it's just the name and a semicircle and stuff so you know you don't have to register every trademark I do of course have 180 LOC Oh the name trademarked but anyway so all of this to show you guys like yeah this isn't really a copyright but it is a trademark but then on the other hand let's look at this very popular well-known Starbucks logo again of course this is a trademark we see this logo on a cup or on a bag of coffee or on the side of a building and we know this product or the service this thing is coming from this company that we recognize this Starbucks so it's clearly a trademark but it's also protected under copyright law try Starbucks does actually have a registered copyright in this symbol in this design too primarily because of that the mermaid girl if it wasn't for her this wouldn't be a creative work it wouldn't be eligible for a copyright just the the words themselves the Starbucks you know around the logo that doesn't do much for copyright but the the girl the image herself that in itself it has enough degree of creativity that it in itself is considered a work of art essentially so Starbucks has a trademark but they also have a copyright for the same symbol but again remember the trademark and the copyright they they do very different things so whereas the trademark goes they have a trademark for the logo obviously but they also have a trademark for Starbucks just the name on its own because they want to protect that too where is this copyright for the logo even though the copyright might include the Starbucks in it the copyrights not really protecting the Starbucks name it's not protecting the Starbucks brand in the same way that a trademark does so why does all this matter again trademarks and copyrights serve very different functions and they do very different things trademark protection for the most part it only extends to the goods and services that are registered the the goods and services on the trademark application that's why we can have things like Ace Hardware and ace bandages Ace Hardware has a trademark for Ace Hardware ace panda jizz has a trade

Thanks Del your participation is very much appreciated
- Emogene Koehnen

About the author

Emogene Koehnen

I've studied anthropology of institutions at Brown University in Providence and I am an expert in contemporary philosophy. I usually feel angry. My previous job was engineering managers I held this position for 9 years, I love talking about clothesmaking and acroyoga. Huge fan of Daniel Vincent Gordh I practice fly-fishing and collect sneakers.