Can a signature be registered as a trade mark?

In order to answer this question, let us first have a short look at what a trade mark is.

We all know about the power of branding: famous names like Microsoft, BMW or Fisher & Paykel are associated with well known, high quality products. These names and the respective logos are protected by the law in several ways. As these marks are all registered they have the statutory protection provided by the Trade Marks Act. On account of their established reputation they also attract protection under the Fair Trading Act and the common law tort of passing off. This means that the owner of these brands can stop other traders from using confusingly similar names for their own products. In other words, the reputation that trader A builds up for its products or services is protected and trader B can be stopped from taking a free ride, say by using an identical or confusingly similar name for one of its products.

However, unlike copyright, trade mark protection does not arise automatically. Protection either requires registration under the Trade Marks Act or an established reputation giving remedies under the Fair Trading Act and the common law tort of passing off.

Owners of unregistered trade marks can still fight other traders who take advantage of their brand. However, unless your brand is famous or has an established reputation, the chances of success are relatively low. An unregistered trade mark will likely cost more to defend than a registered trade mark and could result in an identical or similar brand being used in areas where the reputation of the first brand did not extend. Hence, the best advice for most traders is to develop a branding strategy and to seek formal registration for their core trade marks.

So, can a signature be registered as a trade mark?

The New Zealand Trade Marks Act explicitly names signatures as one of the signs that may be registered as trade marks. Other signs that may be registered are brands, colours, devices, headings, labels, letters, names, or words to name only a few.

This does not mean that you can protect any signature as a trade mark. Whether or not a specific signature can be protected also depends on whether a visually similar signature has already been registered. Also, if you have a very common name, the signature will need to be relatively unique.

An example of a signature that has been registered as a trade mark (in the US) is:

the Taylor Swift signature above.

It’s not her original signature, but rather a stylized version of it.

In the light of the above, did Leonardo da Vinci ever protect his famous signature?

No, formal trade mark protection system were not around in his lifetime. These days, a relatively unique signature like his would have a good chance at qualifying for registration.

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