Protect Your Logo: Trademark, Design or Copyright?

"How do I protect my logo?" Almost every founder asks this question shortly before launch. The honest answer: it depends. There are three ways to protect a logo, and they protect different things. A logo can be protected as a trademark, as a registered design and, in some cases, by copyright. If you use the logo as a brand, meaning as a sign in the market, the trademark is normally the key right. Because only it stops a competitor who uses a confusingly similar sign for similar goods. It lasts 10 years according to Section 47 MarkenG and can be renewed as often as you like. This article helps you choose. This is general orientation, not legal advice.

Key Takeaways

• Three ways to protect a logo: trademark, registered design, copyright.
• For a logo used as a brand, the trademark is usually the key right, because only it stops confusingly similar signs for similar goods.
• The registered design complements it and protects the exact look, from 60 euros (DPMA, 2026).
• Copyright arises automatically and free of charge, but only if there is genuine originality.
• A trademark can be renewed indefinitely according to Section 47 MarkenG, whereas a design expires after 25 years.

Before you commit, it pays to look at all three routes side by side. For how these rights fit into the bigger picture of trademark, patent, design and copyright, see the overview Trademark, Patent, Design or Copyright. This article is the logo-specific deep dive.

The three ways to protect a logo

There are three ways to protect a logo, and each one covers something different. The trademark protects the logo as an indication of origin for specific goods and services. The registered design protects its appearance. Copyright arises automatically, but only if there is genuine originality. A trademark costs 290 euros electronically for up to three classes according to the DPMA (2026).

The first route is the trademark, more precisely the figurative mark or the word-and-figurative mark. It protects your logo as a sign that makes your offerings distinguishable from those of others. For that, the logo needs distinctive character, so it must not be purely descriptive. The trademark applies to specific Nice classes, the goods and services classes you choose when you file. It lasts 10 years according to Section 47 MarkenG and can be renewed as often as you like.

The second route is the registered design, formerly called Geschmacksmuster. It protects the appearance, meaning the concrete look of your logo. For that it needs novelty and individual character, not distinctive character. A logo is expressly eligible for design protection according to the DPMA (2026), which names logos and graphical user interfaces as examples. The protection lasts at most 25 years.

The third route is copyright. It arises automatically upon creation, with no filing and no fee. The catch: it only applies if your logo reaches the required originality, the so-called Schöpfungshöhe, meaning it represents a genuine creative achievement. Whether a specific logo meets that is a case-by-case legal question. Never blindly rely on your logo being protected automatically.

According to the DPMA (2026) and Section 47 MarkenG, a logo can be protected in three ways: as a trademark for specific goods and services, as a registered design with a protection term of at most 25 years, and through copyright, which arises automatically but only applies where there is genuine originality. Each route protects a different aspect of the logo.

Trademark, design or copyright: what stops what?

What each route stops depends on the attack. The trademark stops a confusingly similar sign that a competitor uses as a trademark for similar goods, which none of the other rights can do. The registered design stops copying of the exact look. Copyright only applies where there is genuine originality. A trademark lasts 10 years according to Section 47 MarkenG and can be renewed indefinitely.

Think in scenarios, not in statutes. The most common worst case: a competitor shows up with a similar logo in your market and confuses your customers. This is exactly where you see why the trademark is so central for a brand logo. Only it applies when someone uses a confusingly similar sign as a trademark for similar goods. A design, by contrast, only helps you if the look is copied almost identically.

The following matrix shows which route stops which attack:

Scenario	Trademark	Registered design	Copyright
Competitor uses a similar logo as a trademark for similar goods	Stops it	Does not apply	Only with a literal copy and originality
Someone copies the exact look of your logo (whatever the purpose)	Only in your registered classes	Stops it	Only with originality

The uncomfortable point: many rely on copyright because it is free. But it only protects the logo as a creative work, and even then only if the originality threshold is met. It never protects the fact that your logo makes you distinguishable in the market. For a competitor who uses a similar sign as a trademark, copyright is therefore rarely the right weapon.

Only the trademark stops a confusingly similar sign that a competitor uses as a trademark for similar goods according to Section 47 MarkenG. The registered design stops copying of the exact look, but according to the DesignG it only applies against the concrete appearance. Copyright only works if the logo reaches genuine originality, which many simple logos do not meet.

What does each protection cost?

The three routes cost very different amounts. A trademark costs 290 euros electronically for up to three classes according to the DPMA (2026), a registered design 60 euros electronically, and copyright is free because it arises without any filing. The maximum protection term also varies widely: from 25 years for a design up to unlimited for a trademark.

Price alone, however, says little about value. At 60 euros the registered design is cheap, but it has a catch. When registering, the DPMA does not examine novelty and individual character according to the DPMA (2026). These requirements are only checked in the event of a dispute. A registration is therefore no proof of the validity of your design. If an opponent digs in, a registered design can still fall in a dispute.

The comparison at a glance:

Protection right	Official fee (filing)	Maximum term
Trademark	290 euros electronically (up to 3 classes)	Unlimited (10-year renewals)
Registered design	60 euros electronically	25 years
Copyright	0 euros (no filing)	70 years after the author's death (if originality is met)

It is precisely this unlimited renewability that makes the trademark a lasting anchor. A design must expire after 25 years, a trademark does not, as long as you renew and use it. Renewal costs 750 euros per ten-year period according to the DPMA (2026). For a logo that is meant to stay your identifying mark permanently, that is a clear advantage over all time-limited rights.

A trademark costs 290 euros electronically for up to three classes according to the DPMA (2026) and can be renewed indefinitely according to Section 47 MarkenG. A registered design costs 60 euros but lasts at most 25 years, and the DPMA does not examine novelty and individual character on registration. Copyright arises free of charge, but only where there is genuine originality.

Which route fits you?

If you use the logo as a brand, the trademark is almost always the most important route. Because only the trademark stops a competitor who uses a confusingly similar sign as a trademark for similar goods, according to Section 47 MarkenG. The registered design complements it when you want to secure the exact look against copying. Copyright is a bonus, not a foundation.

Start with the question of what you use the logo for. Is it your identifying mark in the market, the thing customers are meant to associate with you? Then there is barely a way around the trademark. It protects exactly what makes a brand logo: the origin function. Once the basic decision "trademark" has been made, the next question follows: word mark, figurative mark or word-and-figurative mark? The guide Word Mark vs. Figurative Mark explains this trade-off.

The registered design pays off in addition when your logo's look is itself an asset you want to protect against imitators. Especially with elaborately designed graphics, it covers cases that fall outside your trademark classes. It is cheap and fast, but it never replaces the trademark. See it as a complement for the exact form, not as an alternative to sign protection.

Copyright you get thrown in for free, but do not rely on it. Whether your logo reaches the originality threshold is a case-by-case legal question that no one can seriously answer across the board. Since the German Federal Court of Justice ruling "Geburtstagszug" (I ZR 143/12), applied art has been held to the same lower threshold as fine art. Even so, a genuine creative achievement remains necessary, and many simple or functional logos do not meet it.

For a logo used as a brand, the trademark is normally the key right according to Section 47 MarkenG, because only it stops confusingly similar signs for similar goods and can be renewed indefinitely. The registered design complements it from 60 euros (DPMA, 2026) for the exact look. Copyright is an automatic but uncertain fallback protection.

And one practical step first: before you file your logo as a trademark, it pays to do a preliminary search. Because the office does not check older third-party trademarks, that stays your job. You can search for similar trademarks yourself at any time before you file.

Conclusion: first clarify how you use the logo

The most important insight first: which route fits your logo depends on how you use it. If the logo is your sign in the market, the trademark is normally the key right, because only it stops a confusingly similar sign for similar goods and can be renewed as often as you like according to Section 47 MarkenG. The registered design complements it for the exact look, costs 60 euros according to the DPMA (2026) and lasts at most 25 years, without the office examining novelty and individual character. Copyright arises automatically and free of charge, but only applies where there is genuine originality and never replaces sign protection. Whether your logo reaches the originality threshold, or which route is the right one for you, cannot be answered across the board. This is general orientation, not legal advice; when in doubt, have your case reviewed by an attorney. The first step remains: research your trademark before you file.