B5-03 – 🎨 Name, logo and their significance

What does ‘logo’ actually mean?

Almost every company, club and organisation has a logo these days. We see them on stationery, business cards, websites, vehicles and promotional materials.
A logo serves as a distinctive symbol and ensures that people recognise an organisation at a glance.
The word ‘logo’ does not originally come from the German language. It developed from the Ancient Greek word ‘lógos’ (λόγος), which means, amongst other things, word, speech, thought, meaning or significance. Via the French logotype and later the English logo, the term was adopted into many languages and is now part of everyday language in German too.
Although ‘logo’ is used as a matter of course in everyday language, trade mark law employs other, precisely defined technical terms. Depending on what is to be protected, a distinction is made between different types of trade marks.

A figurative mark consists exclusively of a graphic representation.
It does not contain any protected lettering, but only an image, symbol or graphic sign.
A well-known example would be Apple’s bitten apple – even without the lettering, millions of people recognise immediately which company it is.
The protection afforded to a figurative mark relates to the graphic design itself.
Once it is registered with the Trade Marks Office, it may not be used by others without consent.

A word mark protects only a name or a specific sequence of words – regardless of how it is written or styled.
Examples of this include company names or product names, which are protected in any font.
With a word mark, therefore, the focus is not on the appearance, but on the name itself.

The word and design mark combines both elements.
It consists of a name or lettering and a graphic design. It is precisely this combination that is legally protected.
Many clubs, companies and organisations – including, in all likelihood, NADEUM-WIKO – use a word and design mark. In such cases, the name and the logo together form the protected visual identity.

The term trademark is frequently used in everyday language.
It describes any visible distinguishing feature of an organisation or a company.
However, a trademark does not automatically have to be a registered trademark. It can also simply be a symbol or sign that an organisation uses to present itself to the outside world.

A signet is the design term for a simple graphic emblem.
Unlike the term ‘logo’, ‘signet’ is used primarily by graphic artists and designers.
A signet often consists solely of a graphic shape or symbol and usually does not feature any lengthy lettering.

The term company emblem was once widely used but is now rarely heard. It refers to the visible distinguishing mark of a company or organisation.
In modern usage, the terms logo, trademark or – in legal contexts – figurative mark and word and figurative mark have become established instead.

In everyday speech, most people simply refer to a logo.
Lawyers, trade mark offices and experts, on the other hand, make a more precise distinction between figurative marks, word marks and combined word and figurative marks.
Which term is used therefore always depends on the specific context.

The term ‘logo’ is now understood worldwide and is fully recognised in German. It has become established as a general term for an organisation’s graphic emblem.
In legal contexts, however, more precise terms are used to clearly define which elements of a trade mark are protected.