A logo, a mascot or a packaging design can be protected by copyright and as a trademark at the same time, and the safest brands use both. On the copyright vs trademark logo question, the two rights do different jobs: copyright arises automatically when an original design is created and, in Spain, lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years; a trademark has to be registered, lasts ten years and can be renewed indefinitely. This guide is for marketing, brand and legal teams that commission creative assets and sell across Europe and Latin America.
Key takeaways
- Copyright protects the original artwork itself, with no registration, in every country of the Berne Convention.
- A trademark protects the sign as a badge of origin for the goods and services listed in the registration, for ten-year renewable periods.
- Copyright belongs to the person who created the design unless the rights are transferred in writing, so commissioned logos are the usual weak point.
- An earlier copyright can be used to oppose or cancel someone else’s trademark in Spain, and to cancel an EU trade mark at the EUIPO.
- Mexico and Brazil expressly refuse trademarks that reproduce protected works or characters without the owner’s consent.
What does copyright protect in a logo, character or packaging?
Under article 10 of the Spanish Intellectual Property Act (TRLPI, consolidated text of 30 March 2022), copyright covers all original literary, artistic or scientific creations expressed by any means, expressly including drawings, comics and other plastic works “whether or not applied”. That is the category into which an illustrated logo, a brand character or the artwork on a box usually falls. Protection arises “by the sole fact of creation” (article 1), and the Berne Convention bars countries from making it conditional on any formality, according to WIPO’s summary of the Convention.
Mexico’s Federal Copyright Act (LFDA, last amended in the Official Gazette of 14 May 2026) lists caricature and comics, and applied art including graphic design, among protected works (article 13). The condition everywhere is originality. In practice, a plain word in a standard typeface or a basic geometric shape may not reach that threshold, which is exactly where the trademark layer becomes essential.
Copyright vs trademark for a logo: how the two layers compare
| Feature | Copyright | Trademark |
|---|---|---|
| How it arises | Automatically on creation (TRLPI art. 1; Berne Convention) | By registration with each office, or one EU trade mark for the whole EU |
| What it protects | The original artistic expression, mainly against copying | The sign as an indicator of commercial origin for the listed goods and services |
| Initial owner | The natural person who created it (TRLPI art. 5), unless rights are transferred | The applicant named in the filing |
| Duration | Life plus 70 years in Spain (art. 26) and Brazil (Law 9.610, art. 41); life plus 100 years in Mexico (LFDA art. 29) | 10 years, renewable without limit: from filing in Spain (Law 17/2001, art. 31) and the EU (Regulation 2017/1001, art. 52); from grant in Mexico (LFPPI art. 178) and Brazil (Law 9.279, art. 133) |
| Proof | Your own evidence of authorship, date and title; optional registers in many countries | The registration certificate |
| Typical failure | Gaps in the chain of title from designer to company | A third party files first, or the mark is not used |
Who owns the copyright in a logo you paid for?
Paying an agency or freelancer does not, by itself, make your company the owner. The rules differ across the corridor:
- Spain: transfers of economic rights are limited to the rights, forms of exploitation, time and territory stated. If the contract is silent on time, the transfer lasts five years; if silent on territory, it covers only the country where it was made (TRLPI art. 43). Every transfer must be in writing (art. 45). The presumption in favour of the employer in article 51 applies to employees, not to outside studios.
- Mexico: the person who commissions a work holds the economic rights unless agreed otherwise (LFDA art. 83), but the contract must be clear and precise, and doubts are resolved in favour of the author (art. 83 bis). Transfers must be in writing, for consideration and temporary (art. 30); without an express term they last five years, and more than 15 years only exceptionally (art. 33). They must be recorded to take effect against third parties (art. 32).
- Brazil: a total and definitive transfer requires a written contract; without one, the maximum term is five years, and the assignment is valid only in the country where it was signed unless otherwise agreed (Law 9.610/1998, art. 49).
The designer also keeps moral rights. In Spain these are unwaivable and inalienable and include the right to object to modifications that harm the author’s legitimate interests or reputation (TRLPI art. 14), which matters when you later redesign the logo.
How copyright helps against bad-faith trademark filings
Copyright exists from the day the design is created, so it can be an earlier right in countries where you have not yet filed a trademark. That is often what saves a brand when a distributor or a squatter registers its logo first.
- Spain: signs that reproduce, imitate or transform works protected by copyright cannot be registered without authorisation (Trademark Act 17/2001, art. 9.1.c). The copyright owner can oppose the application before the OEPM (Spanish Patent and Trademark Office) (art. 19.1.c) or seek a declaration of invalidity later (art. 52). After five years of knowingly tolerating the use of the registered mark, that route closes unless the filing was in bad faith (art. 52.2).
- European Union: an EU trade mark is declared invalid where its use may be prohibited under an earlier copyright (Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, art. 60(2)(c)), on application by the copyright owner (art. 63). Copyright is not among the grounds for opposition, which are limited to those in article 8 (art. 46), so at the EUIPO it is an invalidity tool.
- Mexico: the Federal Law on the Protection of Industrial Property (LFPPI, last amended on 3 April 2026) refuses marks that reproduce a literary or artistic work without the copyright owner’s authorisation, and fictional or symbolic characters unless filed by the owner or with consent (art. 173, XIV). Bad-faith filings are refused (art. 173, XXII) and can be cancelled at any time (art. 258).
- Brazil: works and titles protected by copyright that may cause confusion or association cannot be registered as marks without the author’s or owner’s consent (Law 9.279/1996, art. 124, XVII).
In all of these routes you will have to prove authorship, the date of creation and how the rights reached your company. Without that file, the copyright argument is hard to win.
What this means for your business
- List your brand assets: logos, characters, packaging artwork and key campaign visuals, with the name of each designer.
- Close the chain of title with written assignments that cover all territories, the full term, all forms of exploitation and the right to adapt the work and register it as a trademark.
- Keep dated evidence (briefs, drafts, source files, invoices) and consider registering key works where registration creates a presumption, such as Spain (TRLPI art. 145.3) and Mexico (LFDA art. 168).
- File figurative marks for the logo and main characters in your priority markets before you launch there.
- For mascots in Mexico, consider a reservation of rights for characters before INDAUTOR: it lasts five years and is renewable on proof of use (LFDA arts. 173, 190 and 191).
- If the packaging shape matters, add an industrial design registration as a third layer.
Our team for copyright protection of logos, characters and creative works can audit your assignments and evidence, while our trademark registration team for Europe and Latin America files the marks on the same plan.
Where companies get this wrong
- Assuming the invoice transfers the rights. Without a written assignment, a Spanish court may read the transfer narrowly, and in Brazil it may be limited to five years and one country.
- Letting a local partner file the trademark. Recovering it means litigation, and the copyright evidence then becomes decisive.
- Relying on copyright alone. It targets copying; it does not stop a confusingly similar sign that was created independently.
- Relying on the trademark alone. If the registration lapses or is lost for non-use, copyright may be the only right left.
- Waiting too long. In Spain, five years of known tolerance can bar an invalidity action based on copyright unless there was bad faith.
These problems usually appear when the designer’s contract, the trademark filings and enforcement sit with different advisers. A single team keeps the evidence, the owner and the filings aligned.
Frequently asked questions
Can a logo be protected by copyright and as a trademark at the same time?
Yes. If the logo is original, copyright protects the artwork from the moment it is created, without registration. A trademark registration protects the same sign as an indicator of origin for specific goods and services. The two rights coexist, have different owners unless you align them, and are enforced through different procedures.
How long does each type of protection last?
Copyright lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years in Spain and Brazil, and life plus 100 years in Mexico. Trademarks last ten years and can be renewed indefinitely, counted from filing in Spain and the EU and from grant in Mexico and Brazil. A trademark can outlive copyright if renewed and used.
An agency designed our logo. Who owns the copyright?
In Spain and Brazil, the designer keeps the copyright unless it is transferred in writing, and silent contracts are read narrowly as to time, territory and uses. Mexico gives the commissioning party the economic rights unless otherwise agreed, but requires clear written terms. In every case the designer keeps moral rights, so the contract should address future modifications.
Can IP Global Guard protect our logo and characters in Europe and Latin America?
Yes. We review your design contracts and evidence, prepare the trademark filings, acting before the EUIPO and the OEPM directly when our professionals are entitled to and through qualified representatives otherwise, and coordinate local correspondents for national offices and any opposition or cancellation, from a single point of contact.
How IP Global Guard can help protect your brand assets
A logo is only as safe as the paperwork behind it: a clean assignment from the designer, dated evidence and trademark filings in the right name and countries. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, combines copyright, trademark and design protection with one strategy and one billing relationship across more than 25 jurisdictions; see our coverage in Europe, Latin America and Africa.
Send us your logo, your main characters or packaging, the design contracts you have and the markets where you sell or plan to sell. We will tell you where the gaps are and coordinate the copyright and trademark steps from a single point of contact. Talk to our brand protection team.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not replace an assessment of your specific case.
Sources
- BOE, Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996 (TRLPI), arts. 1, 5, 10, 14, 26, 43, 45, 51 and 145 (consolidated, 30 March 2022)
- BOE, Trademark Act 17/2001, arts. 9, 19, 31, 51 and 52 (consolidated, 28 July 2022)
- WIPO Lex, Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 on the European Union trade mark (14 June 2017)
- WIPO, Summary of the Berne Convention (1886)
- Chamber of Deputies (Mexico), Federal Copyright Act (last amended 14 May 2026)
- Chamber of Deputies (Mexico), Federal Law on the Protection of Industrial Property (last amended 3 April 2026)
- Presidency of Brazil, Law 9.610 of 19 February 1998 (copyright)
- Presidency of Brazil, Law 9.279 of 14 May 1996 (industrial property)
