Trademarks

A trademark is a sign that identifies a product or service and shows where it comes from. Copyright does not protect names, titles or slogans because they are too short or too simple to count as creative works, so trademark law may protect them instead.

What trademarks protect

Trademarks protect signs: logos, symbols and slogans. A trademark stops other people and companies using the same sign, or one so similar that customers could be confused about who made a product.

• A logo, such as a swirl of three leaves for a juice brand.
• A title, such as a game called Sky Cabbages.
• A slogan, such as “Brewed Before Breakfast”.
• A character name, such as Captain Bramble.

What can and cannot be trademarked

Most logos are too simple to be copyrighted: a shape, a name and two colours are not artwork. They are normally protected as trademarks instead. A very detailed, complicated logo might also qualify for copyright as a piece of artwork. A film title is normally too brief to be protected by copyright, though trademark protection may still be available. A product name can be a trademark only when it does not simply describe what the product is. “Fizzy Orange Drink” describes what is in the can, so it cannot be trademarked; a made-up name like Zingle can. A colour scheme can be trademarked if it is distinctive, such as a mint-green and cream combination used across a whole range of cereal boxes.

Registering and using trademarks

To get the strongest protection, owners apply to the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) to add their mark to the official register. This entry has to be renewed. If the owner does not renew it, the mark is recorded as dead and protection ends.

You should not use a trademark in a media product without permission from the trademark holder. For example, a magazine advert that includes a soft drink’s logo would need the owner’s agreement first.