Do You Actually Own Your Brand?
One of the most exciting parts of launching a business is the branding. You invest real money into a logo, a color palette, a visual identity, and a website that speaks directly to your ideal client.
But just because the designer sent you the final files and you paid the invoice does not mean you legally own your branding.
In this post, you'll learn what it actually means to own your brand and the red flags that your ownership may not be as complete as you think.
What “owning your brand” legally means
Your brand assets, like your business name, logo, website copy, color scheme, packaging designs, and other creative elements, are all considered intellectual property (IP).
Different types of IP protect different aspects of your brand:
Copyright: Protects creative works like website copy, illustrations, graphics, and design files.
Trademark: Protects brand identifiers such as names, logos, and slogans used in commerce.
Contractual rights: Govern who owns commissioned work and how ownership rights are transferred.
The key piece here:
You do not automatically own brand elements just because you paid a designer to create them.
Why?
Because most designers are independent contractors, and under U.S. copyright law, independent contractors retain the copyright in the work they create unless:
There is a written assignment that transfers ownership to you, or
The work qualifies as a work made for hire, which only applies in specific scenarios and rarely applies to design work.
This default rule runs counter to many business owners' assumption that if you pay, you own it.
Why owning your brand actually matters
Owning your IP gives you important legal and commercial rights, including:
Exclusive use
Control over how your brand is displayed and modified
The ability to enforce your rights if someone copies you or uses your IP without permission
The ability to license, sell, or collateralize your IP
Freedom to scale (whether through investment, wholesale, collaborations, etc.)
Strong IP rights directly impact valuation. For example, a recent study showed the median value of a trademark is around $22.5 million!
Because designers retain ownership by default, business owners need to be aware of the warning signs that they own less than they think.
Red Flag #1: Your designer contract does not include an IP assignment
An IP assignment clause transfers ownership of creative assets from the designer to your business. Without it, the designer keeps the copyright in whatever they create.
If the designer owns the copyright to your brand elements, it can cause significant problems:
You may be limited in how you update or modify your branding.
The designer could claim your use infringes on their rights.
You may be unable to transfer IP during a sale, licensing agreement, or investment due diligence.
These are avoidable with clear, properly drafted contracts.
Red Flag #2: You only received final files, not source files
Your business or rebrand finally starts to feel real when you get those files from the designer! But what the designer delivers can have legal consequences for your business.
Final files (PNGs, JPGs, PDFs) look great, but they aren’t enough to ensure you have long-term control of your brand.
Source files, like AI, PSD, EPS, INDD, or layered files, contain the editable components of your branding. Source files enable you to:
Update your packaging
Make accessibility improvements
Adjust layouts
Create new brand collateral
Enable future designers to work with your branding without recreating assets from scratch
If you don’t have source files, you’re dependent on your designer forever, even if the relationship ends or they shutter their business.
Red Flag #3: Your designer kept rights to core brand elements
Your brand identity is made up of multiple elements:
Logos
Color palettes
Icons
Packaging dielines
Custom patterns or illustrations
Font selections
Brand textures or graphic elements
If your contract is unclear, you may own some elements but not others. Only partially owning your brand can make scaling messy and risky.
Red Flag #4: Your designer used fonts or images without the proper license
Fonts and stock images aren't always free to use. Like other creative assets, they are copyrighted works owned by someone else.
To use them lawfully, you need a license that actually covers your use, such as:
Commercial use
Web use
Social media use
App, packaging, or print use
Embedding into PDFs or brand templates
If your designer used unlicensed fonts or stock images, you could face claims of infringement, even if you didn't know.
If you are concerned you don't own your branding...
...it may be worth contacting a lawyer.
A lawyer can help you:
Conduct a brand/IP audit
Review your contracts and identify ownership gaps
Draft or negotiate a retroactive assignment
Ensure your fonts and images are properly licensed
File federal trademark applications
Register copyrights for key creative assets
Getting a handle on your branding before you scale protects you from expensive problems, like IP infringement claims or forced rebrands, later.
Protect What You're Building
If you're preparing to launch or planning a rebrand, now is the time to secure your IP.
Victoria Wiley Law offers:
Brand Audits to identify missing ownership rights
Federal trademark registration for nationwide protection of your name and logo
Agreements for creatives with clear IP ownership language
Contract reviews for business owners to ensure agreements protect your brand from day one
If you're ready to get started, book a consultation or email us at hello@victoriawileylaw.com.
If you'd like to learn more about how we can help you protect what you’re building, book a free discovery call.
Disclaimer: This post is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. No attorney-client relationship has been formed by viewing or engaging with this post. To the extent this post is considered attorney advertising, prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.