Should I trademark my brand and logo?

Business owners often ask us questions like:

• “Should I trademark my brand and logo?”
• “Must I trademark my business name and logo?”
• “What exactly should I trademark?”

Our response? For the most comprehensive protection, you should trademark your brand and logo as well as every brand asset that you value.

Branding often goes beyond a mere name or a logo – it’s about how your business or product is perceived and the recognisable feeling your brand assets stir up.

This means that you may want to consider registering multiple trademarks to protect your different brand elements, such as word marks for your business name, brand name, product names and slogan as well as trademarks for images such as your logos, stylised words and any icons you use to represent your brand.

Each asset must be registered as a separate trademark.

If your business is brand new or still in the start-up stage, you should at least register the trademarks for your key brand and logo.

Your logo trademark could be a stylised word, a word combined with an image, or an image that stands alone to represent your brand.

For example:  

Many businesses also register other trademarks such as secondary logos or icons, slogans and even unconventional trademarks such as colours and shapes that have become synonymous with their brand reputation.

You can read more about types of trademarks in our article, What is a Trademark?

Here are some examples of how three UK tea brands have used trademarks to protect their various brand assets and try to differentiate themselves from their competitors!

Each tea supplier has trademarked their brand name, logo/s and slogan, but of these three brands, only Twinings has given some of their specific tea products names which are distinctive enough to be registered as trademarks.

The other two tea suppliers use generic industry terms such as Ice tea, Green Tea, Decaf, Everyday, Breakfast, Herbal etc. to describe their various products. These words cannot be trademarked as all tea companies use them.

Strong branding increases the chances of customers remembering, identifying and choosing your product or service over your competitors.

A generic name is going to be hard to remember, unlikely to stand out or distinguish your brand, your values, your quality and your reputation from that of other traders in your industry.

For example, if you are starting up a candle business, the descriptive words, ROMANTIC CANDLES, are probably less memorable than a striking name like MATCHMAKER for a candle brand.

Registering a trademark also ensures that you have not used someone else’s brand assets or something confusingly similar to theirs. It can help to keep you out of the proverbial hot water!

With a registered trademark brand and logo, you have a protected brand and logo. You can add the registered trademark symbol ® to your branding. Don’t risk leaving your assets unprotected.

Trademark Planet offers an easy 3-step process so that you can register your trademark yourself, hassle-free.