OWNED, NOT ORPHANED.
A designer owns copyright in a logo, identity or design system the moment it is created, and that ownership only transfers to the client if a contract assigns it, usually against payment. Without a signed IP assignment, the client typically holds only a licence to use the work, even after the invoice is paid. Chain of title for a logo is proved by the design files, dated drafts, and the signed contract naming who owns what and when.
Client work with clear IP terms, portfolios that survive the handover, and logos with a record behind them.
LAST REVIEWED
THE SITUATION
A designer ships a logo, an identity or a whole system, and then hopes the invoice, the deliverables and the rights all match. Most of the time the deliverables leave, the rights get argued about later, and the portfolio use gets forgotten entirely.
The client thinks they own everything. The designer thinks they can show it. Both are half right, and the version they signed is a PDF someone edited in an email.
WHAT BREAKS.
Rights transferred before payment
Some contracts hand over IP the moment work is delivered, so if the client stalls on the invoice, the designer has already lost their only leverage.
No portfolio carve-out
The best work of the year can end up invisible in a designer's case studies because the contract's confidentiality clause said so, with no exception negotiated.
Source file giveaway
Handing over layered source files with no restriction lets a client or a third party create derivative logos and identities the designer never approved.
Logo with no dated record
Without a timestamped proof of authorship, a designer has a weak position if a client, a competitor or a former collaborator claims to have made the mark first.
Style trained into AI tools
Delivered assets can be fed into a model to replicate a designer's visual style at scale, with no way to prove the source unless the originals were recorded.
WHAT YOU CAN OWN.
COPYRIGHT
Logos, illustrations and layouts are protected by copyright automatically, owned by the designer until assigned.
TRADEMARK
A finished logo, once adopted by a business to identify its goods or services, can be registered as a trademark by the client.
DESIGN RIGHT
Unregistered design right can cover the specific visual appearance of a product design, less commonly a pure brand mark.
PATENT
Graphic and brand design is not patentable; patents cover inventions, not visual identity.
TRADE SECRET
Design process and client strategy can be kept confidential contractually, but this is not a trade secret in the legal sense.
LIKENESS
Likeness rights are not usually relevant unless a design incorporates a real person's image or signature.
FOUR STEPS.
DROP
Upload the brief, the SOW and the final deliverables.
EXAMINE
Deed rewrites clauses that transfer too much and adds a portfolio carve out, kill fee and payment gate.
EXECUTE
Contract signed both ways, deliverables released against payment, logo minted with a public record.
DEFEND
A dated record of the design and what was granted, which is the first thing any lawyer or platform will ask you for.
KEY FACTS
- 01A designer owns copyright automatically and it does not transfer just because an invoice was paid.
- 02An IP assignment must generally be in writing to be valid; a verbal agreement to transfer copyright is not enough in most jurisdictions.
- 03A trademark on a finished logo belongs to whoever registers it with the relevant office, which is separate from copyright in the artwork.
- 04A portfolio carve-out is a negotiated exception, not a legal default, and needs to be written into the contract.
- 05Source files and final exports can be licensed separately, so delivering one does not automatically license the other.
QUESTIONS
+Should IP transfer on signature or on payment?
On payment. Deed writes the assignment as conditional by default, so the rights arrive when the money does.
+How do I prove I made a logo first?
Mint the identity as a public Deed. The record is timestamped, numbered and verifiable by anyone who clicks the D.
+Can I show client work in my portfolio?
Yes. Deed keeps a portfolio carve out in every contract unless you and the client explicitly remove it.
+Who owns the logo, me or my designer?
The designer, until a signed assignment transfers it. Paying the invoice alone usually only buys a licence to use the logo, not the underlying copyright.
+Can a client trademark a logo I designed?
Yes, if they own the rights to do so. That requires the designer to have assigned copyright, or the client to have a licence broad enough to permit registration.