- Do you need to know how to trademark a logo? Your business logo is as valuable to you as your business name.
- Even if your business name is already registered, infringers can still use your logo without your permission if it is not separately registered.
- Every piece of your intellectual property is as important to you as the last, because each piece identifies and characterises your business, as well as your products and services.
- Modern marketing is visually driven: images associated with your business are just as important as words. The average consumer will associate the goodwill of your business with their first impression of you: this is why trademark a logo is so important.
To learn how to trademark a logo can be a lengthy and complex process. There are a number of steps to the application process that you must follow precisely if you hope to be successful when you learn how to trademark a logo. Before you attempt to register your logo as a trademark, you should seek the advice of a trademark professional. We are experienced in the application process: we not only assist you in drafting and filing your application, but we can also help you with complications that arise throughout the entire registration process.
Steps on How to Trademark a Logo
Consumers and competitors alike use your logo to identify your products or services, as well as your business. The logos of well-known businesses are distinguishable at a glance, and this grants these businesses enormous marketing power. It is worth investing both time and money into designing a unique, recognisable logo for your business. Even the simplest logo can have a powerful impact. Often, the most elaborate logos are passed over by consumers: in modern marketing, consumers tend to have short attention spans.
Once you have designed your logo, you will need to perform a series of logo trademark searches to ensure that your mark is not identical to or confusingly similar with another company’s trademark. If you don’t know how to trademark a logo, this can be a difficult process. Your trademark is unlikely to be registered if it resembles another pre-existing mark: furthermore, other trademark holders can move to block your application, or even take legal action against you for infringing on their trademark rights. A logo trademark search will reveal those marks that are identical or similar to your own mark, and therefore how likely you are to achieve trademark registration.
Once these searches have been conducted, you must draft and then file your application. Once your application is submitted, you cannot make any changes to it: therefore it must be completed correctly the first time. Seeking the guidance of a trademark expert can prevent you from filling out forms incorrectly, or supplying information in the wrong section.
Trademark a logo Registration Timeline
The application, if you are unsure how to trademark a logo, and the trademark logo process is always lengthy. Our trademark experts are familiar with the process, and we can ensure that your application is filed with the greatest chance of success – and therefore the fastest route to registration. The application process timeline is as follows:
- Step One: Trademark Searches and Application Filing. During this stage of the process, a trademark professional will conduct a number of preliminary and comprehensive searches of trademark databases. Once we have identified whether your mark is eligible for registration, we will file a draft application and lodge a refined copy. This stage of the process will take a matter of weeks, depending on what the logo trademark search reveals about your mark.
- Government Examination. The examining body at IP Australia must determine whether or not your mark is eligible for registration. This examination period can take up to five months: it will be longer if you receive a rejection notice and are forced to make moves to remedy the points for rejection. Your trademark expert will be able to navigate any complications that arise.
- Acceptance of Your Application. Once your application has been accepted to trademark a logo, it must undergo a three month period of opposition, during which any registered trademark holders can oppose your application for registration. Your trademark professional will be able to manage any opposition that your mark receives. If you are unopposed during this time, your mark will be successfully registered. Trademark a logo achieved!
Registering Your Logo Trademark Nationally
A vital piece of information you should know, if you are unsure how to trademark a logo is when you trademark a logo in Australia, you are protected from infringement on a national level. Your protection must be ensured through the regular use of your logo on your packaging, business correspondence, business-related vehicles, and in marketing and advertising. If you do not use your logo on a regular basis, it may be removed from the trademark register: if this occurs, another company can apply to register your logo as their own. We can manage your trademark registration by advising you on frequent use, as well as navigating any attempts by competitors to de-register your mark.
Your national registration lasts for a period of ten years, and then can last indefinitely with timely renewals.
Trademark a Logo Internationally
If you don’t know how to trademark a logo in Australia, you may want to trademark a logo overseas as well as in Australia if you plan to expand your business over international borders. Filing to trademark a logo overseas can be a complicated and expensive process: however, once your business has increased recognition, it is essential that you begin to consider your marketing strategies and intellectual property protection on an international scale. As with any trademark, logo applications are filed on a per-country basis. You must identify the countries in which you require registration before you file your application. The cost of overseas registration will vary on the countries you wish to apply to.
Protect Your Logo with Trademark Registration
The failsafe way to protect your intellectual property is to register it as your trademark. Trademark legislation protects words, names, symbols, logos, and even sounds, colours, shapes, and scents from infringement. By trademarking your logo, you are preventing other companies from using your mark to identify their own products or services which may be of a lesser quality to your own. Trademark registration also prevents other companies from accidentally infringing on your mark: should they conduct a trademark search, they will discover that you already own the rights to that specific mark.
Even if you own a small business, you should consider registering your intellectual property, including your logo, as a trademark. Your business is sure to grow and with it, your goodwill: you need to protect your reputation with consumers by preventing others from using your marks.
BIO:
Quick Off the Mark® is a division of Mark My Words Trademark Services Pty Ltd (MMW). MMW was founded in 2011 and is headed by Jacqui Pryor, a registered trade marks attorney with more than 16 years experience.
In 2015 MMW acquired Quick Off the Mark®, which is a fast and affordable Australian trademark registration service. Quick Off the Mark® offers fixed fees that are affordable to help Australian businesses register their trademarks.
Disclaimer – The advice provided in this blog is general advice only. It has been prepared without taking into account your business objectives, legal situation or needs. Before acting on this advice you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your own objectives, legal situation and needs.