Establish Logo Permit For Free

Copyright or trademark? Is a logo subject to copyright? 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.

In the U.S., you don't need to register a trademark or copyright your company's logo. Once you put down the original work on paper or digital media and use it to market your business, you automatically own the rights. However, registering a trademark affords you an extra layer of protection.

Provide three original pieces of proof that your trademark is in use within the state of Texas. Pay the fee for each class you are applying for. In Texas, each class is currently $50, which is significantly less than the $325 fee required for each class in a federal application.

A unique logo can be trademarked by registering it with the USPTO. Anyone can apply online on the USPTO website if the business for which they're authorized to file is principally located inside the U.S. If based outside the U.S., a patent attorney will be required to make the filing.

By simply having a logo, you have what's known as a common law trademark for your logo. That means that, without doing anything paperwork-wise, you have the sole legal right to use and amend that logo as you see fit. But without an officially registered trademark, that right isn't as secure as it could be.

Logos don't even need to be registered as trademarks to be protected under current law. This means that using someone else's logo without permission, even if it's unregistered, is against the law.

You must send details of your trade mark and the goods or services you want to use your trade mark on to the Intellectual Property Office ( IPO ). You can send your application online or by post. The IPO will: check that your trade mark is not the same as, or similar to, any existing trade marks.