What is the difference between a logo, a trademark and an emblem: legal education

Marketers say that without visual design a successful business cannot be built. We need to increase brand awareness. What you can do:

• order a logo;
• register a trademark;
• come up with an emblem.

Yes, these are all different concepts. Let's figure out what's what.

Logo

A logo is a corporate symbol of an organization. He creates an image. A logo can be in the form of text, an image, or a combination of both. Remember the bitten apple at Apple, the swoosh at Nike, the two golden arches in the shape of an “M” at McDonald’s.

The logo must distinguish it from competitors. It expresses the brand's values ​​in simple visual language.

So, the premium tanning studio Chika Fried approached us for a logo. Usually we study services, analyze the target audience, and research competitors. But now we invite you to fantasize as if we didn’t do all this. We only have a field of activity and a name.

Chika Fried, premium tanning studio - what image do you paint? Probably something caustic, progressive, with humor. Is it true that a banal picture with the sun, glasses and a palm tree is not suitable for a brand? We've seen this 76 thousand times. Something more interesting is needed here.

Chika is translated from Spanish as “girl”, but is also consonant with the English chicken - “chicken”; fried - “fried”. There may be an association with a tanned chicken, and it will not be vulgar.

Yellow color - hackneyed. When tanning, the skin first turns pink - you can take note of this.

The result is a reflection of the company’s idea and its character. A pink flame, a confident, proud bird that stands firm and even. Like a chicken paw - not our style. 

It is curious that the term “logo” does not exist in Russian legislation. In the legal field, a different definition is used.

Trademark

A trademark is a designation for individualizing a product. It’s complicated, but this is approximately how it is written in the Civil Code of Russia (we have simplified this further).

The main difference between a trademark and a logo is registration. Did you notice the ® next to the image? The symbol indicates that the trademark has been registered. R - registered.

A trademark is registered through Rospatent. Attentive people work there: they strictly ensure that the logo and brand name are unique. The registration process is complex: it lasts a year and requires piles of documents.

But a trademark provides legal guarantees. It belongs only to the owner. No one else can use it without consent unless they want to get a claim.

Whether to register a trademark or not is your decision. But when we create a logo, we make sure to check its uniqueness so that there are no problems during registration.

Emblem

Imagine two brothers. The youngest is a merry fellow, mischievous; He speaks easily and everyone around him likes him. The eldest is serious, deep; formulates abstrusely, is less popular, but not alone. The younger one is the logo, and the older one is the emblem.

An emblem is a symbol that expresses many meanings at once. It is full of details, which makes it similar to illustration.

The purpose of the logo is to reflect the whole concept. The usual allegories help with this: the eagle is protection, the book is knowledge, the tree is nature.

Law enforcement agencies, universities, football clubs have emblems - organizations with a deep history.

In our work we prefer brevity, so we do not make emblems, but logos. But we will listen sensitively to your wishes and give design advice. All that's left is fill out the brief.