You may sometimes use another company’s name or logo, but permission depends on why and how you use it. Referring to a brand to identify genuine goods, describe compatibility, compare products, report news, or comment may be lawful. Use that suggests sponsorship, affiliation, or your own product source creates greater risk.
Names and word marks are often easier to reference accurately than logos and trade dress. Use only what is reasonably necessary and make your own branding clear.
Trademark law focuses on source and confusion
Trademark infringement generally requires likely consumer confusion about source, sponsorship, or affiliation. Federal law also addresses false or misleading representations. See 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a).
Common situations where reference may be permissible
Compatibility and repair services
A seller may need to state that a replacement part fits a particular branded product or that a repair shop services certain brands. The statement should be accurate and should not imply authorization. Prominent independent branding and a clear relationship statement may help.
Resale of genuine goods
Resellers can often identify genuine trademarked products they lawfully sell. Materially altered goods, removed quality controls, misleading repackaging, gray-market differences, or a presentation implying an authorized dealership can create additional issues.
Comparative advertising
Truthful comparison may identify a competitor. The Federal Trade Commission encourages truthful, nondeceptive comparative advertising and expects objective claims to be substantiated. Review the FTC’s comparative advertising policy.
Commentary, reviews, parody, and news
The First Amendment and trademark doctrines can protect expressive reference, but context matters. In Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, the Supreme Court held that ordinary trademark analysis applies when the challenged designation is used as a source identifier for the defendant’s own goods.
Important qualification: Courts use different approaches to nominative fair use and expressive works. Do not treat a single three-part internet test as nationwide law.
Descriptive fair use
Federal law recognizes a defense for certain good-faith descriptive uses of words otherwise registered as marks, when the term is used descriptively rather than as a trademark. The statutory language appears in 15 U.S.C. § 1115(b)(4). This defense does not authorize misleading source claims.
Why logos often present more risk
A logo may communicate affiliation more strongly than a plain-text reference and may also be protected by copyright. Copying a logo, product image, packaging, or website design can therefore raise several legal issues. Use a word reference when it adequately conveys the necessary information.
Risk-reduction checklist
- Make the statement truthful, specific, and supportable
- Use only the amount of the mark needed for the purpose
- Avoid another company’s stylization, logo, packaging, or trade dress unless necessary and justified
- Make your own brand more prominent
- Do not call yourself authorized, certified, official, or partnered without permission
- Review platform advertising and marketplace rules in addition to trademark law
- Obtain permission for campaigns where the relationship itself is part of the message
A disclaimer can clarify a relationship, but wording cannot cure an overall presentation that is confusing. Evaluate the entire page, advertisement, packaging, or product.
Read next: the practical elements of trademark infringement.
The practical next step
Before launch, save the proposed use in context and identify the business reason for using the mark. Counsel can assess confusion, fair use, copyright, advertising claims, and circuit-specific rules without reviewing the reference in isolation.