What Should You Trademark First: Your Name, Logo, or Slogan?

One of the most common questions we hear at Skala.io is deceptively simple: “What should I trademark first: my company name, logo, or slogan?”

Before deciding what to file first, it helps to understand what a trademark can be.

A trademark is anything that identifies the source of particular goods or services and distinguishes them from competitors. For most companies, the three common trademark assets are:

• A name: A company name, product name, or app name, such as Instagram, Coca-Cola, or iPhone.
• A design: A symbol, icon, stylized wordmark, or other visual identifier, such as the Nike swoosh, McDonald's golden arches, or the Starbucks siren.
• A slogan or tagline: A phrase used to identify or promote the business, such as "Just Do It" (Nike), or "I'm Lovin' It" (McDonald's).

Less frequently, trademarks can also be distinctive colors, sounds, product packaging, and scents. The central question is whether consumers recognize that feature as signaling that the goods or services come from one particular business.

Types of Filing Formats

The USPTO generally permits two principal trademark filing formats: standard-character marks and special-form marks. A standard-character application protects words, letters, or numbers without limitation to a particular font, color, or design. A special-form application protects a specific visual presentation, including a logo, stylized wording, color claim, or combination of wording and design.

Common Strategy

Although each case requires an individualized review, for most startups we generally recommend filing first for the company name as a standard-character application. The name is the core identifier customers use to find, remember, and recommend the business. Filing the application in standard character format provides broader protection than filing only a particular logo design.

The reason for this is because the standard-character registration protects the words themselves, rather than limiting protection to a specific font, color, or layout. This distinction is important because companies frequently add to their visual identity as they grow: logos are refreshed, websites are redesigned, and product interfaces evolve. The name remains the same, borrowing Shakespeare’s phrase, as an “ever fixed mark” across customer contracts, sales materials, software, invoices, and investor diligence.

A name gives a growing company greater flexibility by allowing the company to update its visual presentation without having to replace its foundational trademark filing.

Can You File Your Name, Logo, and Slogan in One Application?

The answer to this question is: depends.

The USPTO allows only one trademark per application and requires one drawing of that mark (for a special form application). A business can theoretically file a combined mark that includes wording and design together: for example, a logo containing the company name and a tagline beneath it.

That single application protects the specific combination shown in the drawing. It does not provide the same flexibility as separate registrations for the name, the standalone logo, and the slogan.

For example, suppose a startup uses the following brand lockup:

SKALA

The Final Frontier of Legal

paired with a distinctive icon.

The startup could file one application for that complete design and wording combination. But that registration would not necessarily give the business the same protection for:

• SKALA used by itself
• The icon used by itself
• THE FINAL FRONTIER OF LEGAL used by itself
• A redesigned version of the logo
• The same wording in a different font, color, arrangement, or layout

A combined filing can be a reasonable short-term option when budget is constrained and the elements are consistently used together. But it is usually not a substitute for protecting the company or product name in standard-character format.