Hello, I am happy to answer your question.

Generally speaking, trademark design work is entrusted to a logo design company. The font of the trademark is not randomly selected from a font, because the characters in the font are used in the trademark. First of all, there is no uniqueness. Secondly, Direct use of fonts in the font library carries the risk of being sued for infringement. Therefore, formal and reliable trademark design companies generally design original designs based on customer conditions or modify single characters based on font libraries and apply them to trademarks.

If the trademark already uses a font and the font has been commercially released, it is best to trace the copyright, obtain authorization or change the font to avoid legal risks.

For example, if A entrusts B to design a word trademark, and B purchases a genuine font product for design, and sells the final word trademark to A for subsequent copying and distribution, then A’s use of the word trademark is legal. Because when B purchases genuine font products, he also obtains the implicit permission to exercise the intellectual property rights in a reasonably expected manner, and does not need to obtain additional permission outside of the purchase.

However, if the font rights holder has clear, reasonable and effective restrictions on the purchaser, and the purchaser has accepted this restriction, the corresponding subsequent use should be deemed not to be the use that the purchaser reasonably expects. . For example, if the font rights holder restricts buyer B from using the font to design a trademark, and B still uses the font to design a trademark despite agreeing to the restriction, then the word trademark purchased by A from B may involve infringement.

?The provisions of the "Trademark Law" regarding the copyright of fonts

The "Trademark Law" stipulates that applying for trademark registration shall not damage the existing prior rights of others. This "prior right" includes the prior copyright of others. Therefore, a question arises: whether the text font used in the trademark may infringe the prior copyright of others?

Trademark refers to any sign that can distinguish the goods of a natural person, legal person or other organization from the goods of others, including words, graphics, letters, numbers, three-dimensional signs, color combinations and sounds, etc. Words are one of the main elements of a trademark.

Chinese characters are different from written characters in other languages. After thousands of years of evolution, they have formed a rich and diverse fonts. Different font styles have certain aesthetic values, which is why calligraphy was born. Gate expression art. Because Chinese character fonts have aesthetic value, Chinese law has included them in the ranks of fine arts and enjoys the protection of copyright law.

Whether the use of fonts designed by others in a trademark constitutes infringement cannot be simply viewed from one perspective, and the precedents of courts in various places are also different, so it is not certain. The number of words used in a trademark is limited, often no more than three or two. Therefore, whether a single word constitutes a work of art and enjoys copyright protection is a focus of controversy. Others believe that single words do not constitute works of art, but font libraries do. Secondly, whether the text fonts used in the trademark infringe the copyright infringement must be traced back to the source.

The lowest risk and most economical way to use registered trademark text

Facing the shameless practice of font companies to lure users to use it for free while taking profits from infringement, it has been criticized by the majority of users. . But as a designer, I definitely support copyright protection and reasonable copyright protection. Font companies are right to crack down on copyright infringement. But it also provides opportunities for our small and medium-sized design service agencies. As long as we legally obtain the copyright or use our own technology and creativity to design fonts for customers, it will be beneficial to the development of the Chinese and font industries.

Generally speaking, the lowest risk and most economical way to use registered trademark words is not to register a trademark just by typing in a few words from the font library. This will not only make your customers think of the trademark, but also the brand. Your lack of strength and dedicated service will also bring about the most primitive obstacles in the later development of corporate brand image. Often, you have to change it in the end, which is a waste of time and money. Instead, you should spend a small amount of money to hire a reliable design service provider with font design capabilities to design a font or graphic that matches the characteristics of the trademark and brand. This may seem like a small expense, but it actually saves a lot of money in the long run.

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