Personal-name trade marks: can you always use your surname?

What is a personal-name trade mark?

A personal-name trade mark consists wholly or partly of a person’s first name or surname. It is common in fashion, furniture, hospitality and family businesses. It distinguishes goods or services: this commercial function must be distinguished from identifying the person.

Before investing in a logo or website, clarify the products, countries and entity involved. An individual, a family company and an investor-owned company are different rights holders: the choice of trade mark applicant affects subsequent management.

The right to a name and earlier trade marks

For Italian trade marks, relevant provisions include Articles 7, 8, 12, 13 and 21 of the Industrial Property Code. Having a particular surname does not generally authorise its use as a trade mark conflicting with earlier rights. Distinctiveness and applicable grounds for refusal must also be assessed.

Article 8 also governs others’ names and well-known signs: consent rules vary. Article 21 limits the proprietor’s rights, including where an individual uses their own name or address in accordance with honest practices. This is not a licence to present the surname in any distinctive form.

Checks before choosing a sign

Preliminary searches should cover identical and similar signs, considering relevant activities and territories. Checking domain availability alone is insufficient: domain availability and trade mark registrability are different questions.

• Define the goods and services to protect, avoiding lists unrelated to the project.
• Consult UIBM and EUIPO registers and relevant international registrations where necessary.
• Assess phonetic, visual and conceptual similarities and other signs on the market.
• Document who created the logo and who owns its rights.

Search results require legal analysis. Adding a first name, city or graphic treatment may affect the assessment but does not alone guarantee freedom from conflict.

Family businesses, a founder’s departure and transfers

Imagine two brothers working in the same business who decide to separate their activities. Before ordering new signs, they should establish ownership of filings, shareholders’ agreements, earlier licences and use of the sign. Kinship does not automatically determine how the two businesses may use the surname.

The same issue can arise when the founder sells the business. The contract should precisely identify trade marks, domains, accounts and communications materials, distinguishing transfer of rights from the individual’s possible future use of their name. Duration, territory, products and presentation require specific clauses.

Making a sustainable choice

An orderly process starts with an inventory of signs and documents, continues with earlier-rights searches and leads to decisions on filing, ownership and use agreements. If a potential conflict emerges, changing the project before launch may avoid redoing packaging, communications and contracts.

A specific assessment requires the exact sign, goods or services, relevant countries and history of use. These allow the business’s position to be examined without assuming a surname may always be used merely because it belongs to the family.

Sources and references

• Normattiva — Italian Industrial Property Code, Articles 7, 8, 12, 13 and 21
• Normattiva — Article 8, personal names and well-known signs
• Normattiva — Article 21, limitations of trade mark rights
• EUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, consolidated version of 1 December 2025
• Brocardi — Article 8, text and further references

Does your situation need closer analysis?

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