In intellectual property law, a logo is a distinctive visual sign, often composed of symbols, images, words, or letters, designed to identify and distinguish a company from its competitors. The logo is a key element of a brand’s visual identity and plays an essential role in consumer recognition.
The logo can be protected as a trademark, particularly when it is used to identify commercial products or services. For a logo to be protected as a trademark, it must be distinctive, i.e. it must not be generic or descriptive of the product or service with which it is associated. Once registered as a trademark, the logo enjoys legal protection, generally for a renewable period of 10 years, which allows its owner to use it exclusively and defend their rights against any attempt at counterfeiting.
Depending on the legal system, the logo may also be protected by other rights, such as copyright if the graphic element is original. However, the most common and effective protection for a logo remains registration as a trademark with an intellectual property Office (such as the INPI in France or the EUIPO in Europe). This protection allows the owner to control the use of the logo and guarantee its exclusivity in a given market.