Notes on trademark design

Trademark design must conform to the laws and customs of the countries and regions where goods are sold and respect their national sovereignty and national characteristics, which has become the principle of trademark design for enterprises in various countries. Trademark design is not just a general arts and crafts problem, and it can't just pursue the beauty and practicality of trademarks. At the same time, we should carefully consider the legitimacy of the design, the legal consequences after use and its impact on the international marketing activities of enterprises.

■ Legal elements of trademark design

The legal elements of trademark design include the following aspects:

Composition of trademark

The laws of different countries have different provisions on the composition of trademarks.

According to the regulations of CIS countries, the elements of a trademark can be words, graphics, three-dimensional, combination or other forms.

American trademark law stipulates that any word, symbol or sign, or a combination of these things, can be used as a constituent element of a trademark.

At present, a few countries in the world also list the special styles of packaging and containers as the constituent elements of trademarks, allowing registration.

Due to the increasingly fierce trademark competition, some foreign manufacturers try their best to be unconventional in trademark design in order to attract customers, and have launched odor trademarks and audio trademarks one after another. Electronic data trademark, transmission trademark, etc. In some countries, such as Romania, the trademark law stipulates this, such as color, product shape or its packaging, sound, etc. Can be used as an integral part of a legal trademark. However, most countries have not yet implemented legal protection for the above-mentioned forms of trademarks.

China's Trademark Law stipulates that trademarks should be written in words. Graphics or their combinations, in addition, other forms can not be used as elements of Chinese trademarks.

Distinctive characteristics of trademarks

The uniqueness or identifiability of a trademark is a remarkable feature. Whether it is words, graphics or the combination of words and graphics, it must be novel and unique in concept, which is enough to distinguish it from other similar trademarks.

The color of the trademark

The color of a trademark is of great significance to a trademark. Color is not a legal constituent element of a trademark, and generally cannot be used as a constituent element of a trademark alone. However, color is a part of the whole trademark, and it is one of the important signs that distinguish a trademark from other businesses.

If a trademark registered in a specified color needs to change its color after registration, it shall be regarded as a change of trademark graphics and must be re-registered. Because trademark color is of great significance to improve advertising efficiency, many well-known trademarks have specified colors when registering.

Words and graphics of trademarks

Some words and graphics are prohibited from being used as trademarks, and different countries have different regulations on prohibiting the use of trademarks. Attention should be paid to their differences.

Due to the different customs, social and cultural backgrounds of different countries, some trademarks that are commonly used in one country or deeply loved by consumers may not be suitable for use in other countries. In trademark design, it seems that an international norm has been formed, that is, when choosing the words, graphics and colors of trademarks, avoid using things that are prohibited by the selling country or taboo by consumers.

brand name

Many countries prohibit the use of geographical names as trademarks because geographical names are usually considered to lack distinctive features.

Copyright protection of trademarks

The protection of trademarks includes the protection of trademark rights with property significance and the protection of trademark rights closely related to the identity of specific people. Copyright protection of trademarks belongs to the protection of personal rights.

■ Design Style and Product Marketing

Trademarks are produced and developed in the production and exchange of commodities. The outbreak of trademark graphics around the world can be traced back to ancient original paintings. After long-term development and changes, trademark graphic design has gradually entered the era of mass communication, and trademark design has gradually become professional.

Trademark design in various countries forms its own style characteristics under the background of national culture;

In Germany, a rigorous design style of spreading information with highly generalized visual graphics has been formed.

French trademark design and art come down in one continuous line, emphasizing the expression of youth and freedom;

American trademark design tends to be lively and free space combination;

Japan has established its own trademark design style by combining the intuitive design method embodying the oriental cultural tradition with the European constructivism form.

However, the development of trademark design in all countries shows the same trend: from embryonic signs to complicated painting patterns, to modern simple and bright geometric patterns, from figurative images to literal or abstract geometric trademark designs.

The trademark design of an enterprise is closely related to product development and marketing. Many foreign enterprises put trademark design in the position of strategic decision-making, comprehensively consider various factors and plan comprehensively; In the specific design, the text, graphics and color of the trademark are studied comprehensively, and the advertising effect of the trademark is analyzed in detail.