Difference Between Logo and Trademark – Complete Details

Understanding the differences between a trademark and a logo is crucial for every entrepreneur. Though there are some similarities, there are quite a few differences. 

In this article, we have provided detailed information on logos and trademarks.

What is a Logo?

A logo is a graphical image that defines the name of the business. Logos play a crucial role and are an underlying symbol when people start recognizing your business with it. For example, people can recognize the Apple company and its products with the logo.

Elements of a Logo

A logo consists of the following elements:

• Symbols
• Text
• Images and Fonts
• Colours
• Fictional Characters
• Animals or any other generic forms

What is a Trademark?

A trademark can be a phrase, symbol, word, or combination of all these things. Most people need clarification on a trademark and a logo. The key difference is trademark provides the company with all legal rights to protect its brand and logo.

A trademark protects your brand and products from counterfeiting and fraud. If you trademark your logo, it is difficult for competitors or industry competitors to manipulate or misuse your business reputation.

Types of Trademark

There are many kinds of a trademark that serves different business purposes. Some of the common trademarks are:

Product Trademark: It protects the products or goods of a business rather than a service.

Service Trademark: This trademark protects the services of a business rather than the product or goods. It is defined under trademark class 35-45.

Collective Trademark: This informs the public about the key unique features of the goods or products compared to other goods in the same industry.

Certification Trademark: This trademark denotes the standard of the product quality, origin of the product, or any other details issued by the authority. For example, gold hallmark certification defines the quality of the gold you buy.

Shape Trademark: This protects the shape of the products as it helps the customer relate easily to a brand. For example, customers can easily identify a Coca-Cola bottle based on its shape.

Pattern Trademark: Pattern trademarks, as the name suggests, are the distinguishing factors for a product. For example, the pattern of Louis Vuitton is trademarked.

Sound Trademark: Sound trademark protects the sound that can easily help people identify the brand. For example, people can identify the Airtel company based on the caller tune.

Difference Between Logo and Trademark

Here are a few key differences between the logo and a trademark:

• A logo does not provide solid protection for a business, whereas a trademark provides legal protection.
• Competitors or anyone can start using your logo. But if it is trademarked, they need your permission to use it.
• A logo is only restricted to a graphical image, whereas the trademark can be for various niches like sound, colour, pattern, shape, etc.
• If not trademarked, competitors can misuse your logo. If the logo is trademarked, competitors will face legal consequences if they misuse your logo.

Difference Between Logo And Trademark FAQs

Conclusion

We hope this article has clarified the key differences between a trademark and a logo.