What lodges a brand in a consumer's mind is often not the logo but that one short sentence. The right slogan stays memorable for years, carries the return on your advertising budget, and becomes part of the brand's identity. So can an asset this valuable be legally protected? The answer is yes — but with one important condition. In this article we look at how slogan registration works, which slogans get refused, and how to improve your chances of registration.
Can a Slogan Be a Trademark?
Yes. Turkey's Industrial Property Law includes words among the signs capable of being registered as trademarks, and a slogan is, after all, a sign made up of words. In practice, slogans are registered as word marks.
But the basic requirement for being a trademark still applies here: the sign must be capable of distinguishing one undertaking's goods or services from those of others.
The Real Challenge: The Distinctiveness Threshold
Assessing distinctiveness for slogans is more demanding than for ordinary word marks. The reason is that consumers often perceive slogans as an advertising message rather than an indicator of origin. If a sentence says nothing more than "my product is good," a consumer reads it as marketing copy, not as a brand.
The critical question is: when a consumer hears this sentence, do they think of a specific business, or do they just hear praise?
Types of Slogans That Get Refused
1) Pure praise
Phrases like "The best," "The address of quality" or "Turkey's number one" are not found distinctive. Expressions like these must remain available to every business — no single company can be given a monopoly over them.
2) Descriptive slogans
Sentences that directly describe a feature, purpose or result of the product are refused: "Fast-drying paint," "24-hour security," "Cream with natural ingredients."
3) Phrases common in the sector
Expressions that everyone in a particular sector uses lack distinctiveness — "The home of your dreams" in real estate, or "Here for your health" in healthcare, for example.
4) Generic calls to action
Calls to action such as "Call now" or "Join us too" do not function as a trademark.
What Successfully Registered Slogans Have in Common
Slogans that are accepted usually contain one or more of the following elements:
- Wordplay or double meaning: A structure that makes the consumer pause and think increases distinctiveness.
- Unusual grammar: An unexpected word order is more memorable.
- Including the brand name: If your registered trademark appears within the slogan itself, distinctiveness is largely secured.
- Rhythm and rhyme: Memorability strengthens the trademark function.
- An indirect link to the product: Alluding to the product rather than describing it directly.
- Brevity: Longer sentences start to resemble ad copy, weakening the perception of a trademark.
Distinctiveness Acquired Through Use
Even if a slogan is not inherently distinctive at first, this can still be argued if, through intensive and long-term use, it has come to be identified with a specific business in the mind of consumers. This is known as distinctiveness acquired through use.
The evidence needed to prove it includes:
- Documents showing the date the slogan was first used
- Advertising campaigns and media plans spanning several years
- Advertising spend figures
- Consumer awareness surveys
- Press coverage that mentions the slogan together with the brand
- Sales and market-share data
Taken together, this body of evidence can overcome a refusal based on lack of distinctiveness. For how this compares to the criteria for well-known status, see our article What Is a Well-Known Trademark?
How Should You File for a Slogan?
Separate application, or together with the logo?
Both routes are possible, but they lead to different outcomes:
| Registering the slogan alone | Registering logo + slogan together | |
|---|---|---|
| Protection | The slogan is protected independently | Protection may be limited to that specific composition |
| Chance of registration | Harder (distinctiveness is assessed on its own) | Easier (the logo adds distinctiveness) |
| Flexibility of use | High — usable anywhere | Low — protection becomes questionable if the composition changes |
The professional approach is to protect the main mark and the slogan through separate applications. This way, the slogan becomes an asset independent of the logo and can be used freely across advertising campaigns.
Which classes?
A slogan should be registered in the same classes as your main trademark. Registering it in a different class provides no protection for the products the slogan is actually used on. For guidance on class selection, see our article Trademark Classes.
The Advantage of Including Your Brand Name in the Slogan
The most practical way to improve your chances of registration is to build your brand name into the slogan itself. This has two benefits:
- It largely resolves the distinctiveness problem. The slogan stops being generic praise and starts pointing to a specific business.
- It widens your scope of protection. A competitor copying the slogan would have to use your brand name too, which constitutes direct infringement.
There is a downside, though: if the brand name changes or you rebrand, the slogan becomes obsolete along with it. If you are aiming for a long-lived slogan, a structure that gains distinctiveness through wordplay rather than by including the brand name will be more flexible.
Five Questions to Ask When Choosing a Slogan
- Could my competitor use this same sentence? If the answer is yes, distinctiveness is weak.
- Does it directly describe a feature of the product? If so, the risk of being deemed descriptive is high.
- Does anything similar already exist in the sector? Run a register search and a search-engine check.
- How many words is it? The longer it gets, the closer it moves to ad copy, weakening the perception of a trademark.
- Is its meaning in another language a problem? If you have export ambitions, check the translation in your target market's language.
Is a Slogan Protected by Copyright?
Short slogans generally do not reach the level of originality required to qualify as a copyrightable work, so trademark registration is the primary — and often the only effective — route for protecting a slogan.
That said, the advertising film, jingle or visual composition in which a slogan is used can be protected as a work in its own right. In other words, the slogan itself is protected by trademark law, while the creative content presenting it is protected by copyright. For how these rights differ, see our article Trademark or Patent?
Points to Watch When Changing Your Slogan
Brands update their slogans over time. Two risks come with this:
- Non-use risk: If you stop using a registered slogan, you may face a revocation request after five years. See Trademark Use Requirement.
- An unprotected gap: Launching a campaign before filing for the new slogan leaves a window during which someone else could grab it.
The correct order is: settle on the new slogan, research it, file the application, and only then launch the campaign.
Rather than dropping the old slogan entirely, if it still carries value, keeping it alive through limited use is also an option — continuing to use it in corporate communications, on the back of packaging, or for specific product lines both protects the registration and keeps the brand's memory alive. If you do decide to drop it, do so deliberately: failing to renew the registration means the slogan becomes available for competitors to use.
How Many Classes Should a Slogan Be Registered In?
The most economical approach to slogan registration is to start with the core classes where your main brand is most actively used. If your main mark is registered in five classes, you are not obliged to register the slogan in all five as well — focusing on the product and service groups where the slogan is actually used is enough.
There is a use-related dimension to this too: a slogan registered in classes you do not use it in carries a risk of partial revocation after five years. Because a slogan is often used in a narrower area than the main brand, keeping its scope realistic matters even more here.
Using Someone Else's Slogan
Using an expression similar to a registered slogan can amount to trademark infringement. And even where a slogan is unregistered, copying a competitor's well-known slogan can be treated as unfair competition.
Running a register search while developing a new slogan protects you from later having to replace all of your campaign materials. For the consequences of infringement, see our article Trademark Infringement: Criminal Penalties.
Protect Your Slogan with Webx
A good slogan is the distilled result of years of advertising investment. Leaving an asset this valuable unprotected means leaving the most visible part of your brand wide open to competitors.
At Webx, we assess whether your slogan is registrable, report the distinctiveness risk, and manage the application process for you. Explore our trademark registration service or get a free assessment for your slogan.