Common Legal Pitfalls in the Logo Design Process

As a business owner, one of the first things you may want to do is find someone to design a logo. Picking colors and choosing a font can be exciting, but there are legal pitfalls that many business owners fall into when engaging a designer. With the right awareness, you can create a logo you own and that does not infringe on another person's rights.

Online design software

Online design tools can offer an accessible approach to creating business marketing materials. For logo creation, however, a critical issue is that not all logos created on these sites can be registered as trademarks. If you use basic elements such as lines, shapes, and fonts to create an original logo, you will likely be able to register it. If you use stock graphics, illustrations, photos, or other content, those elements may only be licensed to you on a non-exclusive basis. Anyone can use the same content, which creates a trademark problem.

If you or your branding person uses an online design site, make sure the logo is completely original and not created using stock content.

Logo intellectual-property rights and designers

Under copyright law, whoever creates an artistic or literary work is automatically the copyright owner of that work. The moment a logo designer creates a logo for your business, they are the copyright owner of that logo unless an agreement assigns or transfers ownership to you. When hiring a designer, have a written agreement that grants you the rights in and to the logo.

Your logo is a representation of your company and an intellectual-property asset that you—and only you—should own.

This post is intended for general informational purposes and is not intended to be, and shall not be relied upon, as legal advice.