Recently, the logo color of DingTalk, a popular communication and collaboration platform in China, has changed, making it more eye-catching than the original one. DingTalk explained that the change of its logo color was aimed at cheering for the Asian Games, implying “purple nails in action”.

From the perspective of trademark law, the color and shape change of graphic trademarks is not a trivial matter for enterprises. According to the Trademark Law, registered trademarks cannot be changed at will, and if changed, a new trademark registration application should be submitted. Moreover, it is also an illegal act for the trademark right holder to change the registered trademark by himself during the use process, which may result in being ordered to correct by the relevant department or even having the registered trademark revoked.

However, in practice, due to the actual conditions of production and operation, enterprises’ use of trademarks is often not immutable. The “Trademark Examination and Adjudication Guidelines” interprets changing registered trademarks as trademark registrants or licensees changing the text, graphics, letters, numbers, three-dimensional shapes, color combinations, etc. of the trademark without authorization when actually using the registered trademark, resulting in changes in the main part and significant features of the original registered trademark.

At the same time, when reviewing the revocation of registered trademarks for non-use for three consecutive years, the administrative and judicial organs unanimously recognize that the criterion for determination is to use without changing the significant features. It can be seen that under the current legal framework related to trademarks, there is room for recognition of trademark “changes” by relevant departments.

From the perspective of meeting the actual use needs and complying with the legal system constraints, enterprises can change the color and shape of their own graphic trademarks, but this change cannot change the significant features of the registered trademark. If the color is not specified when applying for a graphic trademark, different colors can be used in actual use; if the color is specified when applying, it is recommended that the color change in actual use be limited to the same color system; for color combination trademarks, since the color and color arrangement order and position are themselves significant features of such registered trademarks, no changes can be made in actual use. Enterprises can adjust the overall proportion of graphic trademarks according to the actual situation of packaging attachment, or delete decorative lines, background borders and other elements that do not affect the main visual effects.

Many enterprises have been gradually evolving and changing their graphic logos in order to adapt to the times and cater to consumers. The change of graphic logos will make consumers aware that enterprises have new images and new concepts, such as DingTalk’s logo color change this time, and Taobao’s blue logo launched this summer that integrates various elements such as music festivals and concerts.

Different from the above situation, some enterprises’ graphic logos have changed, but they have always continued their significant features of registered trademarks, just like inheriting the core ideas of enterprises. For example, Apple’s graphic logo has changed many times since its birth, mainly reflected in its color. Trademarks are themselves tools for publicity and expression. Apple uses such a graphic logo evolution to remind consumers that it has been innovating and innovation is its initial concept.