Should I Trademark My Name Or My Logo

Ideally, you want to trademark them both as two separate trademarks because each would protect different elements of your brand. One would protect the literal part of it, the name, and the other would protect the graphic representation of that name.

Usually, we get this question when the client does not have the budget to file two separate trademarks. So here are the considerations for you to decide whether you want to file for the name or the logo.

First of all, the question is what kind of logo is this? Is this just the image, the icon, or is it the icon plus the name, or it is just a name in a fancy font? That’s important because if the icon does not contain the name at all, then in 99% of the cases, you want to go with protecting the name, because that's more important. Icons change, logos change, the names usually stay the same.

If the logo contains both the icon and the name—that’s called a combined mark. If you only have the budget for one, that’s usually what you want to file for, the combination of the image and the name.

If what you have is just the name in some fancy font, usually you’d want to file for the name again because that name would be protected in any font and it will allow you to protect the stylized version and the name itself—whether it’s in Arial font, or Times New Roman font, or whatever fancy font you came up with.

Now, the only time you elect to do logo and not the name would be if the registration of the name itself is problematic. So you would use the logo as that added element that would make your brand distinctive, or different, from whatever else has been filed or registered before. So you would have an extra argument that, look, we are not trying to get a monopoly on the name, we understand that there might be some confusion there, that’s why we have a slightly different name but most importantly we have this graphic element that makes this brand trademarkable.

So again, if both are perfectly registrable, usually the name is more important than the logo. If the name is not trademarkable or problematic, then you will probably go with the logo. And if you have a very distinctive name and a very distinctive logo but you only have the money to go for one trademark, and our payment plans don’t help you, and you really can’t afford to do two separate trademarks, at that point in time you may want to vote to get the combination. Build the business stronger and then still file two separate trademarks after that. In this case, you’ll end up owning three brands—one would be the combination, the other one would be the word mark, and the third one would be the logo.

• Does My Trademark Need to Match My Company Name? ()
• What Is a Trademark? ()
• Can I Add More Products and Services to My Trademark Application After It Has Been Filed? ()
• Where Should I Register My Trademarks? (Deciding on Jurisdictions in Which to File Trademarks) ()
• What Is Conventional Priority? ()
• Can I Change the Trademark Itself After My Trademark Application has been Filed? ()
• How Long Does It Take to Register a Trademark? ()
• Can I Trademark Dictionary Words? ()
• Can I Trademark the Same Brand for Different Products or Services? ()
• Do All Countries Protect Unregistered Trademarks? (Common-Law Trademarks) ()
• Can I Trademark a Brand Before It Is Launched? (Intent-to-Use Trademarks) ()
• Is My Trademark Available? ()
• Should I Trademark My Startup's Brand? ()
• In Whose Name Should I Apply For My Trademark? ()
• Will the Trademarks Office Help Me Enforce My Trademarks? ()
• Should I Trademark a Logo Done On Fiverr? ()
• How Much Does It Cost to Register a Trademark? ()
• Should I Trademark My #Hashtags? ()
• Are There Annual Trademark Maintenance Fees? ()
• If I Register My Trademark, Does It Mean No One Can Use It? ()
• Four Things Most Commonly Trademarked (The Trademark Dance) ()
• How Does Trademark Factory's Guarantee Work? ()
• What Are Nice Classes of Goods and Services ()
• Do I Have to Be an American Resident to File in the U.S.? ()
• How Are Service Marks Different From Trademarks? ()
• What Are Oppositions? ()
• 3 Most Important Benefits of Registering Trademarks ()
• Why Register a Trademark in Canada to Get a .CA Domain Name? ()
• What is Post-Allowance Statement / Declaration of Use? ()
• Am I Protected Between the Filing and the Registration of My Trademark? ()
• What Is Post-Registration Statement of Use? ()
• How to Use Trademarks to Create a Sense of Uniqueness for Your Business? ()
• What Goes Into a Trademark Application? ()
• What Happens If You Don't Respond to Correspondence from Trademarks Office in Time? ()
• What Makes a Brand Valuable? ()
• Is Registering a .COM Domain Name Enough to Secure Trademark Rights? ()
• Why Is It Important to Preserve Evidence of Use of My Trademarks? ()
• Do I Need an Agreement with My Logo Designer? ()
• Andrei Mincov's story ()
• What is Madrid Protocol? ()
• Trademark Factory Ultimate package ()
• What Are Official Marks in Canada? ()
• Trademark Factory I Feel Lucky package ()
• How Will a Trademark Examiner Examine My Trademark Application? ()
• Can You Trademark Book Titles? ()
• Trademark Factory All-Inclusive package ()
• Trademarks vs. Trade Names ()
• Look-Alike and Sound-Alike Trademarks ()
• Will the Trademark Examiner Check Other Applied For Trademarks? ()
• Trademarking Words in a Fancy Font? ()
• Will the Trademark Examiner Check Unregistered Trademarks? ()
• You Received an Office Action. Now What? ()
• How Long Is a Trademark Registration Good For? ()
• When Should I Trademark My Brand? ()
• Why is Google the Textbook Example of What Not to Do with Your Trademark? ()
• Should I Claim Color as a Feature of My Trademark ? ()
• What Is the Difference Between Trademarks and Patents? ()
• How Should I List Products and Services in My Trademark Application? ()
• What Is the Difference Between Trademarks and Copyright? ()
• When Should I Trademark My Logo? ()
• What Are the Two Main Reasons My Trademark Application Can Be Rejected? ()
• What Is the Trademarking Process? ()
• Can I Mention Someone Else's Trademark on My Website? ()
• What Is An Acceptable Specimen of Use? ()
• What Are Generic, Descriptive, Suggestive, Arbitrary, and Fanciful Trademarks? ()
• What Is UDRP Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy? ()
• How Do I Trademark Product Names? ()
• When Am I Allowed to Put TM Next To My Brand? ()
• How Do I Trademark Service Names? ()
• What Are Word Marks, Design Marks, and Combined Marks? ()
• What Should I Know About Trademarking Slogans and Taglines? ()
• Adding Elements to My Trademark to Overcome Confusion or Descriptiveness ()
• Are Famous Trademarks Treated Differently From Regular Trademarks ()
• Received an Invoice For International Publication of Trademark ()
• What Should I Do If Somebody Infringes on My Trademark ()
• Do Trademarks Protect Their Foreign Equivalents ()
• What Should I Do If Somebody Accuses Me of Infringing Their Trademark? ()
• Asian Domain Name Scam ()
• What Are Two Biggest Branding Mistakes? ()
• Are Dead Trademarks a Problem? ()
• What Is The Difference Between a TM and an R in a Circle Symbols ()
• What Does Using a Trademark Mean? ()
• How Do I Choose a Great Brand for my Business, Product, or Service ? ()
• What Is Weekly Confusion Watch Service? ()
• Supplemental Register ()
• What Are Ornamental Trademarks? ()
• What Happens If I Don't Renew My Trademark In Time? ()
• What Does Confusingly Similar Mean? ()
• What Is a Trademark Assignment Agreement? ()
• What Does Date of First Use Mean? ()
• What Is a License Agreement? ()
• Why Is Search So Important? ()
• What Are Incontestable Trademarks? ()
• How Do I Check the Current Status of my Trademark Application? ()
• Important Amendments to Canada's Trademark Law ()
• How To Trademark a Name and Logo ()
• Trademarking Strategies For Life And Business Coaches ()
• How Do I Cancel Someone Else's Trademarks? ()
• Why Do Celebrities Trademark Their Catchphrases? ()
• How George Clooney Made $1 Billion Using Trademarks? ()
• Misspellings and Other Changes to Get Around Someone Else's Trademark ()
• How To Protect Your Brand On Amazon? ()
• Dividing a USPTO Trademark Application ()
• 5 Movies with Unbelievable Scenes about Trademarks and Intellectual Property ()
• Trademark Factory's New & Improved I Feel Lucky Package ()
• The Dumbest Advice About Trademarks You Could Ever Give ()
• 5 Things You Should Never Say About Your Brand ()
• Trademarks vs Domain Names ()
• What's Your Brand Worth? ()
• 3 Y's Of Protecting Your Brand ()
• Matrix of Success 2 Things a Business Needs for Success ()
• How Coca Cola Trademarked Their Brand ()
• Trademarks: Certainty vs. Commitment ()
• Trademarking Process In a Nutshell - TMs Into Rs Brand Protection Formula ()
• Can I Trademark An App ()
• 3 Types Of Businesses And What This Has To Do With Trademarks ()
• Incorporation vs Trademarking ()
• 3 Nasty Trademark Rip Offs And How To Avoid Them ()