It started as the inside of a coat. The camel, black, white, and red Burberry check was introduced as a lining in the early 20th century — a practical detail no one was meant to see. A century later it's one of the most recognisable patterns in fashion, protected as a trademark, plastered on bags and scarves, and copied on more counterfeit goods than almost any design on earth.
Why a Pattern Is Hard to Own
Most patterns are decoration, and decoration is hard to trademark — by default customers see a check as a style, not as a badge of origin. To register a pattern as a trademark, a brand must show the design functions as an identifier: that people see this specific check and think "Burberry," the same problem Cadbury faced with a colour and Louboutin faced with a red sole.
It isn't any tartan — it's a precise, consistent arrangement of specific colours and proportions, used for decades as a signature. That consistency and fame are what let it cross the line from "a pattern" to "a trademark."
The Counterfeiting Problem
Fame has a cost. The check became so iconic that it turned into one of the most faked patterns in the world — and, in the early 2000s, so over-associated with counterfeits and a particular subculture in Britain that Burberry deliberately reduced its visible use to protect the brand's premium image. It's a rare example of a company dialing back its own trademark precisely because overexposure — much of it from copycats — was diluting its value.
The paradox of a famous pattern: the more recognisable it becomes, the more it gets copied, and the more copying there is, the greater the risk that the public stops seeing it as one brand's signature at all. Dilution is the slow enemy of every iconic mark.
Defending the Check in Court
Burberry enforces the pattern aggressively against retailers and counterfeiters who use confusingly similar checks on scarves, bags, and clothing. These cases turn on a familiar question: would an ordinary shopper see the defendant's check and believe it came from, or was approved by, Burberry? Where the answer is yes, the pattern behaves exactly like any other protected mark — and Burberry has won meaningful victories defending it.
The Takeaway
The Burberry check proves that a trademark doesn't have to be a word or a logo — a pattern, a colour, even a sound can qualify, if a brand uses it consistently enough and long enough that the public reads it as identity. But the same fame that earns protection also attracts the counterfeiting and overexposure that can erode it. Owning a pattern means defending it forever — and sometimes, paradoxically, hiding it to keep it special.
FAQ
Is the Burberry check a registered trademark?
Yes. The distinctive camel, black, white, and red check is protected as a trademark in major markets because Burberry has used it consistently for decades as a signature identifier, allowing it to function as a badge of origin rather than mere decoration.
Why did Burberry reduce its use of the check?
In the early 2000s the pattern became heavily counterfeited and over-associated with a particular subculture, which threatened Burberry's premium positioning. The brand deliberately scaled back visible use of the check to protect its image before reintroducing it more selectively.
Can you trademark a pattern?
Sometimes. Patterns are normally seen as decoration, so a brand must prove the public recognises the specific pattern as identifying one source. Consistent, long-term use and strong recognition — as with the Burberry check — are what make it possible.