When applying to registered a trademark at the USPTO, the mark itself can be one of several types. The main types are:
- Standard Character
- Design
- Motion
- Sound
By far, standard character and design marks are the most common. A design mark is any mark that is a logo or otherwise needs to be drawn and submitted in a two dimensional image. A standard character mark is plain text, usually submitted in all capital lettering.
Registration of a design mark protects just that exact design (or variations in color if the design is submitted in black and white).
Registration of standard character mark protects the wording regardless of the form in appears in. In other words, all fonts, styles, colors, and upper- lower- case variations are covered by a standard character registration.
As a result, a standard character registration is broader and more flexible. Therefore, it is generally more desirable and more important than registering the design of the wording in the mark.
For more on this topic, see:
