You have a logo. A designer has delivered the final files, your website is live, and the brand is starting to get traction. At some point, someone asks: "Have you protected that?" — and you realise you have no clear answer. There are at least three legal mechanisms that could apply, and it is not obvious which one you need, or whether you need more than one.
The choice is not simply "trade mark versus copyright versus registered design". Each mechanism covers a different kind of harm, and one of them — registered designs — often turns out to be irrelevant for logos entirely. Getting clear on what each tool actually does is the first step to building protection that holds up.
What each option actually covers
Australian law gives you three main pathways when it comes to protecting visual branding. They are not interchangeable, and they do not all apply in the same situations.
Trade mark registration — administered by IP Australia — protects brand identifiers: names, logos, slogans, and other signs that distinguish your goods or services from someone else's. Registration gives you an exclusive, enforceable right to use the trade mark in the categories you register it in, and the right to take action if a competitor uses something confusingly similar. A registered trade mark earns the ® symbol. Under s 151 of the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth), using ® when your mark is not actually registered is an offence carrying a penalty of 60 penalty units.
Copyright — governed by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) — arises automatically when an original work is created and recorded. A logo designed with sufficient skill and effort will attract copyright protection from the moment it is committed to a file. No registration, no fee, no application. The catch is that copyright protects the specific artwork from being directly copied — it does not stop someone from independently creating a similar-looking logo, and it does not prevent a third party from building a brand around something visually close to yours.
Registered designs — governed by the Designs Act 2003 (Cth) — protect the visual appearance of physical, manufactured products: their shape, configuration, pattern, or ornamentation. IP Australia's guidance is explicit: design rights do not protect logos. If your logo appears on a product (say, a uniquely shaped bottle or packaging with a distinctive pattern), the design of that product may be registrable — but the logo itself is not the subject of design protection.
The practical upshot: for most businesses, the relevant question is not all three mechanisms but two — trade mark and copyright — and what each one covers that the other does not.
Choosing between copyright and trade mark
How directly you need to stop competitors
Copyright and trade mark registration protect against different kinds of conduct. Copyright stops someone from reproducing your artwork substantially. A trade mark stops someone from using a confusingly similar sign in trade — even if they drew it themselves from scratch.
If your concern is a copycat who lifts your exact logo and slaps it on their products, copyright may give you a basis to act. If your concern is a competitor who creates a similar-looking brand to ride your reputation, trade mark registration is the sharper instrument. Most brand disputes that reach a real enforcement moment involve the second scenario, not the first.
Whether you own the copyright in the first place
Copyright in a logo vests initially in its creator. If a freelance designer or an agency produced your logo under a contract that does not contain an express IP assignment, the copyright may remain with the designer — not with you. This is a common situation, and it is not resolved simply by having paid for the work.
Before you can rely on copyright as a protection tool, you need to be confident you own it. That means checking your designer agreement for:
- an express assignment of copyright to you (or your company), or
- a licence broad enough to cover commercial use and enforcement
If neither exists, the copyright question may need to be addressed before anything else.
How much competitive risk your brand faces
The earlier your brand gets traction, the sooner someone else might build something similar. Trade mark registration creates a dated priority claim: the filing date is when your rights are generally taken to have begun. That matters if a dispute arises later.
Businesses that delay registration because "we'll do it once we're bigger" sometimes find that by the time they get around to it, a similar mark has been filed in the same categories. At that point, you may face an opposition, a rebrand, or both.
The relevant comparison:
| Trade mark registration | Copyright | |
|---|---|---|
| When protection begins | On registration (with priority from filing date) | Automatically on creation |
| What triggers it | Application to IP Australia | Creating and recording the work |
| What it protects against | Confusingly similar signs in commerce | Substantial reproduction of the artwork |
| Scope | Limited to registered goods/services categories | Covers the specific work |
| Duration | 10 years, renewable indefinitely | Life of author + 70 years (for original works) |
| Requires ongoing maintenance | Yes (renewal, use in relevant classes) | No |
| Enforcement leverage for brand disputes | Strong | Moderate |
Which goods and services categories you operate in
Trade mark protection is category-specific. You register in particular classes of goods and services, and your exclusive rights apply within those classes. A business that registers in a narrow category may find that a competitor using a similar logo in an adjacent space has no obligation to stop.
Getting the category strategy right matters from day one. Common mistakes include:
- Registering only in the category you operate in now, without accounting for planned expansion
- Registering a stylised logo but not a word mark — leaving the business name exposed if the branding evolves
- Registering the logo but omitting product names or taglines that are equally worth protecting
The TM symbol — what you can use and when
Many businesses use ™ to signal a claimed trade mark before registration is confirmed. This is not regulated in the same way as ®, and it is common practice to use ™ while an application is pending. The distinction matters:
- ™ — signals a claim; does not require registration
- ® — requires a registered trade mark; using it without registration is an offence under s 151 of the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth)
One further point worth noting: ASIC's business name register and IP Australia's trade mark register are entirely separate. Registering a business name with ASIC does not give you IP rights in that name or in your logo. The two registers do not cross-check, which means a business name can be available on ASIC while a conflicting trade mark already exists on the IP Australia register.
Which protection your situation needs
Most small-to-medium businesses in Australia are in one of three situations:
Copyright only (for now): You have a logo created by a designer with copyright properly assigned to you, your business is early-stage, and competitive risk is low. You have some protection against direct copying but no trade mark priority date and no right to stop a look-alike brand.
Trade mark registration underway or complete: You have filed or registered with IP Australia in the right categories. You can use ™ during examination and ® once registered. Your brand has a priority date and you have the tools to enforce against confusingly similar signs in trade.
Both — and it matters: For businesses that are growing fast, licensing to others, or planning to franchise or expand into new categories, both mechanisms working together provide the strongest position. Copyright covers the artwork; trade mark covers the brand use.
Registered design rights will be relevant only if you have a distinctive physical product whose shape or ornamentation you want to protect — not the logo itself.
Where Artificer Legal can help
The copyright and trade mark questions are connected in ways that are easy to miss. If you engage a lawyer after the fact, the first task is often untangling the ownership question before addressing the registration question. Artificer Legal can help you:
- Review your existing designer or contractor agreements to confirm whether copyright has been properly assigned
- Assess your competitive landscape and advise on the trade mark classes that are worth registering in
- Prepare and file your trade mark application with IP Australia, and respond to any examination issues
- Advise on whether a word mark, a stylised logo mark, or both makes sense for your brand portfolio
- Draft or review contractor and employee agreements to ensure IP created for your business is owned by your business going forward
The decisions you make early — about ownership, categories, and timing — shape the value and enforceability of your brand rights years down the track.
Don't wait to secure your brand
The most common regret is not choosing the wrong mechanism — it is waiting. Businesses that delay trade mark registration often discover later that they have been building goodwill on a brand that was never formally secured, and by then the cost of fixing the gap is higher than the original registration would have been.
If you have a logo that is live in the market, a designer agreement that should be checked, and categories that reflect where your business is actually heading, those three things are worth addressing before your next marketing push or funding round — not after. Copyright gives you a baseline from the moment the work is created. Trade mark registration gives you the tool to enforce your brand position in commerce. Registered design rights protect the appearance of physical products and generally do not apply to logos. Knowing which problem each tool solves is the foundation of a brand protection strategy that actually holds up.