Can a trademark have two owners?

Photo of Tomas Orsula

Written by Tomas Orsula

Senior Trademark Attorney

Yes. A trademark can be jointly owned by two or more parties. All owners are listed on the registration and, unless the agreement between them specifies otherwise, share equal rights and responsibilities.

Joint ownership isn’t very common because IP offices prefer trademarks to identify a single commercial source. Multiple owners using the same mark for different products or services can sometimes undermine that function, especially if they’re not operating as a unified entity.

If you wish to share trademark rights with another individual or company, creating a separate legal entity to hold the registration and license it to each party is a much cleaner arrangement.

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