Although trademark registration is not a complicated matter, there are still many issues, big and small, that need to be decided by the trademark applicant during the registration process. What's the difference between graphic trademarks and word mark? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? These are problems that often plague trademark applicants, and this article will popularize the basic knowledge about trademarks for everyone.

what is a graphic trademark?

a graphic trademark refers to a logo that is only composed of graphics and used on goods or services. Graphics can be drawn from a wide range of materials, which can be concrete things to be materialized or flat icons and symbols. The main characteristics of graphic trademarks are vivid images and easy to identify and remember (scientific research shows that people's ability to remember images is obviously higher than that of words). Not only that, a good graphic trademark can even convey corporate culture and win customer recognition. But its disadvantage is also obvious, that is, it is not convenient to call and describe. For example, we can easily identify the trademark of Pepsi, but it is difficult for us to describe clearly what the graphic trademark of Pepsi looks like in simple language. The picture below shows the graphic trademark of Pepsi.

what is word mark?

The so-called word mark refers to a sign made up of Chinese characters, letters, numbers or other characters and used on goods or services. Compared with graphic trademarks, the most important feature of word mark is that it is easy to address and describe. Because the transmission of written information is obviously easier than that of picture information, the communication cost in word mark is also lower, and even some good word mark has been transformed into our daily vocabulary. For example,? Baidu? It's word mark of Baidu. When you don't know a certain term, others may say to you? How about Baidu? . Of course, word mark also has shortcomings, that is, it is not easy to identify and remember. For example, many people have drunk Coca Cola, but word mark of Coca Cola? Coca-Cola? However, few people can spell it accurately, especially those who don't know English at all, and it is even more difficult to recognize and remember word mark. The picture below shows word mark of Coca-Cola.

can word mark be registered as a graphic trademark?

word mark's fonts can be printed, written or artistic, and some word mark's fonts are very artistic, which will be closer to graphics. When the font of the text tends to be more graphic and divorced from the true colors of the text, it becomes a graphic trademark. Some trademark applicants learned that their favorite word mark had been registered by others, so they found a designer to help them design a graphic trademark, from which they could vaguely identify the words. Finally, the trademark passed the examination of the Trademark Office in the form of graphics. Although there are only a handful of such cases, it can be seen that the boundary between word mark and graphic trademarks is not clear.

summary of advantages and disadvantages of graphic trademarks and word mark

in order to make everyone know the advantages and disadvantages of graphic trademarks and word mark more clearly and comprehensively, we summarized the following contents.

Generally speaking, graphic trademarks have the following advantages:

1. Intuitive, vivid and infectious, which helps companies to implement differentiated brand strategies;

2. It is not limited by language and region, which is more conducive to public recognition and memory.

Graphic trademarks also have the following shortcomings:

1. Compared with word mark, it is not conducive to address and spread;

2. It is difficult to query graphic trademarks. Compared with word mark, the probability of successful registration is relatively low.

Generally speaking, word mark has the following advantages:

1. word mark has form, sound and meaning at the same time, which are used to sense eyes, ears and hearts respectively, and can convey information intuitively and is easy to address;

2. The success rate of word mark's registration is relatively high, because word mark is relatively easy to inquire and can avoid being similar to other trademarks in advance, so the probability of passing the examination is relatively high.

word mark also has the following shortcomings:

1. It is greatly influenced by language and region. For example, trademarks in foreign languages are more difficult for local people to remember and recognize, which is why international brands usually re-register local word mark for the host country;

2. Some meanings that can only be understood but are hard to express are more easily conveyed through graphics, but word mark lacks such expressions.

It is suggested that

the choice of graphic trademarks and word mark should depend on the company's main business. Generally speaking, mass consumer goods should adopt more lively forms of expression, and graphic trademarks or combination trademarks of graphics and characters are good choices, while minority consumer goods need to make choices according to the tastes and preferences of target customers. For example, the professional service industry should be more inclined to word mark to highlight rigor and stability;

As far as design trends are concerned, word mark is getting more and more popular, because it is not easy to address and spread, and simple graphic trademarks are few and far between. We suggest that the trademark applicant apply for the kejia-shaped trademark and word mark at the same time. Because of the high success rate of word mark's application, the trademark applicant can apply for word mark as a defense first, and then continue to apply for the graphic trademark after the graphic design is completed;

We draw the attention of trademark applicants to the infringement risk in word mark: many entrepreneurs download commercial fonts directly from the Internet for trademark registration in order to reduce costs. Without authorization, most commercial fonts are prohibited from commercial use, and once they are sued by font companies, they may face compensation of tens of thousands of yuan. Today, with the continuous strengthening of copyright protection in our country, every entrepreneur should have copyright awareness. Word mark graphic trademark