How to Trademark a Logo: Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

What a Logo Trademark Actually Protects

A logo trademark — technically called a "design mark" at the USPTO — protects the specific visual design as you submitted it, for the specific goods and services you registered it in. That's a narrower grant of rights than most people expect, and the narrowness matters for how you structure your IP strategy.

If you trademark the Airbnb "Bélo" symbol in a particular stylization, that registration protects that exact design (and designs confusingly similar to it) in your registered classes. It does not protect the word "Airbnb." It does not protect a redesigned version of the logo. If Airbnb significantly changed the Bélo design, they'd need a new trademark application for the new version.

This is why most brand-conscious companies file two separate trademark applications: one word mark (protecting the brand name in any stylization) and one design mark (protecting the specific logo). Together, they cover both dimensions of brand identity. Separately, each has real but limited scope.

Step 1: Finalize the Logo Before You File

This is the most important pre-filing decision for a logo trademark, and the one most commonly ignored. Once you file a design mark application, the visual design is locked. You cannot amend the image after filing. If you redesign the logo — even slightly — the new design may not be covered by your existing registration, and you'll need a new application.

Before filing, confirm:

• The logo design is complete and represents the version you intend to use long-term
• The designer has provided written confirmation that the design is original (not based on stock assets or licensed templates that could create copyright complications)
• You have a written agreement with the designer assigning copyright in the logo to you — work-for-hire agreements are preferable; absent a written assignment, the designer retains copyright even if you paid them
• You have the original source files in high resolution

The designer copyright issue is important. A logo is simultaneously a trademark (your brand identifier) and a copyrighted artistic work. If you commissioned the logo without a copyright assignment, the designer holds copyright and could theoretically prevent you from using the design in certain ways. Get copyright assignment in writing before filing the trademark.

Step 2: Decide Between Black-and-White and Color Filing

When filing a design mark with the USPTO, you have a meaningful choice: file in black and white or in color. This choice affects the scope of your protection.

• Black-and-white filing: covers the logo in any color combination. If someone uses a design confusingly similar to yours in red, blue, or gold, your black-and-white registration covers you. This is the standard recommendation for most logos.
• Color filing: covers only the logo in the specific colors shown. A different color combination — even of an identical design — may fall outside your registration.

The practical recommendation: file in black and white unless color is a critical and distinctive element of your brand identity (as it is for, say, Tiffany's robin egg blue or UPS's brown). A black-and-white design mark gives you broader protection for the same cost. You can always file a second application for a specific color version if needed.

Step 3: Run a Design Mark Clearance Search

Logo searches are more complex than word mark searches because you're looking for visual similarity, not just textual matches. The USPTO uses a Design Search Code Manual — a classification system for visual elements — to categorize design marks by their constituent elements (circles, human figures, animals, stars, etc.).

For a clearance search on a logo:

1. Identify the dominant visual elements of your design (e.g., a stylized bird, a geometric hexagon, an abstract wave)
2. Search the USPTO TESS database using the relevant design codes for those elements
3. Review visually similar marks in your target classes for likelihood of confusion
4. Search for phonetically similar word marks if your logo includes text

Visual clearance searches are significantly more subjective than word mark searches. Two logos can share the same design code and not conflict at all; or they can look superficially different and still be found confusingly similar by an examiner. For a logo that represents a major brand investment, professional clearance by a trademark attorney who does design mark work is worth the cost.

Step 4: Prepare Your Application Files

Logo trademark applications require a digital image of the mark meeting the USPTO's technical specifications:

• Format: JPG only (no PNG, no PDF, no vector files)
• Size: minimum 250×250 pixels, maximum 944×944 pixels
• Resolution: at least 300 DPI
• Background: white background required
• Color: if filing in black and white, submit a black-and-white image; if filing in color, submit the image in the exact colors you're claiming

The image must clearly show the mark as it will appear in commerce. No placeholder text, no watermarks, no design guidelines overlaid on the image. The USPTO examiner needs to evaluate the mark as a consumer would encounter it.

Step 5: File Through TEAS — Key Differences from Word Mark Filings

Logo trademark applications follow the same TEAS filing process as word mark applications, with a few important differences:

• Mark type selection: choose "design only" (if the logo has no text), or "design plus words, letters, or numbers" (if the logo includes text)
• Literal elements: if your logo includes text, you must identify the literal elements in the application. This text description is what enables text-based searches to find your design mark.
• Color claim: if filing in color, you must specifically claim the colors and describe where each color appears in the design (e.g., "The color violet is claimed as a feature of the mark, appearing in the geometric hexagon element.")
• Description of the mark: a written description of the design is required. Keep it factual and precise: "The mark consists of a stylized magnifying glass with a T-bar element in the center, presented in geometric form."

Word Mark + Design Mark: The Dual-Filing Strategy

For any brand where the logo is commercially significant, the standard professional advice is to file both applications:

1. Word mark (standard character): protects the brand name in any font, size, or stylization
2. Design mark: protects the specific logo visual

Filed together, they cost $500–$700 in government fees for one class each. That combination gives you the broadest protection: someone who copies only your name is covered by the word mark; someone who copies your visual design without the exact name is covered by the design mark; someone who copies both is covered by both.

Nike, Apple, Google, Amazon — every major brand maintains both a word mark and one or more design marks. The dual strategy is not reserved for large companies; it's the right approach for any brand serious about IP protection.