Back to Logo vs name trademark

Do we have a higher chance of success when registering a wordmark or a logo?

Written by Jan Buza

Co-founder of Trama

Neither application type has universally higher chances of success, but there are ways in which figurative marks raise the distinctiveness of a mark when compared to its wordmark equivalent.

Namely, figurative marks often face fewer conflicts than wordmarks, because the comparison includes visual similarity rather than just name similarity; a logo can be sufficiently different from existing registrations even when the name alone might not be. A wordmark, however, provides broader protection if it does succeed.

For both cases, the most significant factor is distinctiveness, not the type of the application itself. A highly distinctive wordmark and a highly distinctive figurative mark both have strong registration prospects. A descriptive wordmark and a generic logo both face obstacles regardless of type.

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