Guide · Updated
How to check if your logo is unique
“Is my logo unique?” hides two questions: does it look like a well-known mark, and can I register and use it legally? This guide shows how to answer the first in minutes and where to start on the second.
Step 1: a visual similarity check (two minutes, free)
Open the free logo check and choose your logo: PNG, JPG or SVG, up to 5 MB. Your browser decodes the image and computes fingerprints of its silhouette in six orientations (as it is, mirrored, flipped and rotated) plus a visual fingerprint. Only these short codes are sent; the image never leaves your device.
The codes are compared with silhouette fingerprints of 3,466 well-known brand marks from Simple Icons, an open (CC0) collection of brand icons, and with every logo in the Phiora registry. You get a uniqueness score, the closest well-known marks and a preview at 16 px, the size of a browser tab icon. Each visitor can run 5 checks a day.
Step 2: a reverse image search
If your logo started from a template, a stock icon or another AI tool, the same image may already be online. A reverse image search with Google Lens or TinEye finds copies and near-copies of a picture on the web. It cannot find marks that are registered but not published online.
Step 3: search the trademark registers
Trademark offices decide registration rights, country by country or region by region. Good places to start:
- WIPO Global Brand Database: many national and international registers in one place, with search by image.
- TMview: trademarks from the EU office, its member states and many partner offices.
- Your national office, for example the USPTO in the United States, or the intellectual property authority of the country where you trade.
Offices classify the figurative parts of logos with the Vienna Classification and goods and services with the Nice Classification. A similar logo for unrelated goods may not block yours; a similar logo in your class often will. A trademark attorney can tell you where the line is in your market.
What a uniqueness score can and cannot tell you
| It can tell you | It cannot tell you |
|---|---|
| Whether the silhouette is close to one of 3,466 well-known marks | Whether a local or unpublished mark looks similar |
| Whether another Phiora client has a design too close to yours | Whether you can register the logo as a trademark |
| Whether the mark stays readable at 16 px | Anything about names, colours or meanings |
Why template logos are rarely unique
Many logo makers assemble logos from shared icon libraries and templates, so the same symbol can turn up in unrelated brands. That is fine for a mood board, but a weak base for a brand you want to register. Every Phiora draft is screened against well-known marks and every Phiora logo, and the final logo receives a registry number, a certificate and an originality report.
Questions
Is the logo check free?
Yes, with no account. Each visitor can run 5 checks a day; an emailed report is optional.
Is my logo uploaded?
No. The image is analysed in your browser. Only shape fingerprints, short codes that cannot be turned back into your image, are sent for comparison.
Does a high score mean I can trademark my logo?
No. The check compares shapes with a reference set; it is not a legal search. Search the trademark registers and ask a trademark attorney before you register.
How does Phiora keep its own logos unique?
Every draft is compared, in six orientations, with the 3,466 best-known global marks and every Phiora logo. Anything too close is redrawn before you see it, and each final logo gets a permanent registry number.