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Awordmarkorword mark is a distinct text-only typographic treatment of the name of a product, service, company, organization, or institution which is used for purposes of identification and branding. A wordmark can be an actual word (e.g., Apple), a made-up name that reads like a word (e.g., Google), or an acronym, initialism, or a series of letters (e.g., IBM).
In many jurisdictions, such as the United States and European Union,[1] a wordmark may be registered as a trademark, making it a protected intellectual property.[2]
Unlike names and logos, trademarked wordmarks are generally not case-sensitive and are listed in uppercase by trademark registrars such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office, even if they are always cased in a certain way by the owner; this gives the trademark holder rights no matter how the wordmark is presented[citation needed]. Some examples are shown in the sidebar.
In the United States, the legal term "word mark" refers only to the text, not to any graphical representation.[2]
In most cases, wordmarks cannot be copyrighted, as they do not reach the threshold of originality.[3]
Wordmarks and logos are the two most common types of brand marks.[citation needed] Wordmarks, by definition, always contain the name of the product or company, whereas a logo might be a textless image only. For example, the Coca-Cola, Disney, and FedEx logos are graphical versions of those names, while the Starbucks logo contains no text.
A wordmark logo (also called a lettermark or a lettermark logo) is a type of logo, not a type of wordmark, which consists of just text set in a particular style, such as a typeface or color, without other graphical features.[citation needed] For example, the SONY logo contains only the name in uppercase, set in a particular typeface. In some cases, such as Disney's logo, a custom or proprietary typeface is used.[citation needed]
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