Trademark Academy

Examples of low and highly distinctive logos

While combined trademarks (i.e. logo) in general display a higher level of distinctiveness in comparison to text forms alone, a particular emphasis needs to be put on the form of the logo in order to satisfy the distinctiveness requirement when it comes to trademark registration.

Please go through the examples of trademark logos below that display both high and low levels of distinctiveness.

Highly distinctive trademark logos (examples)

Examples of highly distinctive trademark logos

Source: TMview

  • Creating distinctive character forms within the logo

  • Adding a separate graphical element in addition to the visualisation of the brand name

Low distinctiveness of trademark logos (examples)

Examples of low distinctive trademark logos

Source: TMview

  • Merely using a slightly non-conventional font to display the original descriptive brand name

  • Utilising colour schemes in an attempt to create a visual distinctiveness

  • Using generic shapes that are widely used across the given industry sector