Comments on: Logo trademarking tips: A legal perspective

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:48:21 +0000

A well rounded article. I’m designing a logo for a business and they had asked me about trademarking. I’m going to send them here to read this.

Well put. Thanks!

By: Sabu George

Sabu George — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:39:58 +0000

Great post! Haven’t yet found good posts on the legal side of trademarks/logo designing such as this.

By: David Airey

David Airey — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:42:32 +0000

I agree, Lara. I don’t know much about logo trademarking at all, so this was a welcome addition to my blog (with more to follow).

Rachel, Matty, Bryant, I learned a thing or two as well from what Steve shared, so you’re very welcome.

Kiren, no, just because a logo has been around a while, doesn’t make it good, but you’re absolutely right how it’s the product or service behind the design that truly makes it.

By: newriter09

newriter09 — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 09:45:29 +0000

Great article. Logo trademarking is very important for any business to get their identity in the market.

By: Bryant Smith

Bryant Smith — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:22:19 +0000

My opinion is that you shouldn’t go with a symbol only approach unless you are sure you have the power to become very well known in your industry, fast. The key to a symbol only approach is that every time your user sees it, they think of you – and if you aren’t big enough to accomplish this then half of your marketing will consist of people seeing your logo and never associating it with your business; and hence losing advertising potential.

I do agree that a combination would probably work best if you are stuck on a certain symbol already. Otherwise, a nice stylizing text logo would probably be best.

Great post, much appreciated!

By: Matty

Matty — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:43:39 +0000

This has been a most informative article to me. I think many designers do not know as much about the legal side as perhaps they should, me included. It is something I have been meaning to delve into for some time and this article has provided a great start. I think the examples are also excellent and really help to add clarity about the different logo styles. Thank you for sharing an excellent post.

By: Kiren

Kiren — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:31:52 +0000

The e-bay logo proves it! What’s a fancy logo without a quality service or product behind it?. I kinda like it, and it’s been around for a while, doesn’t that make it a good logo?

By: Rachel Cary

Rachel Cary — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:46:00 +0000

Thanks for posting this! Did not know that the integration of type and mark could cause issues in trademarking. This could be very useful when vetting logo concepts with my clients.

@Henery: um, if you’re going to ‘use’ someone’s design, probably not a good idea to ask a designer if you can do that… lol

re ebay: interesting feedback above… I find the tension in the mismatched letterforms visually interesting, and I love the transparency, as well as the colors… but hey, who said I had good taste… lol

By: Jessica Griffin

Jessica Griffin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:22:52 +0000

I think it is great to have a unique logo, and couple it with a catch phrase to make the product even more memorable. A fine example is Nike- A simple symbol along with a great catch-phrase.

By: Lara

Lara — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:00:20 +0000

Another gr8 post here David.. it’s a subject not many of us designers are well-informed of.. I enjoyed reading the whole explanation about combination logos, and one key-point here is that if a combination logo is well designed & executed, and registered separately, eventually, the emblem or symbol may be used solely for the reference of the trademark.

It’s also very interesting how the big names – eg. McDonals, Apple, etc.. – do not even need to mention their names anymore, since everyone literally memorized their looks. But again, it’s taken them years to achieve this solid look and familiarity.

Cheers for a superb article..