Alex is Sprintlaw’s co-founder and principal lawyer. Alex previously worked at a top-tier firm as a lawyer specialising in technology and media contracts, and founded a digital agency which he sold in 2015.
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Amira runs a catering business in Manchester. A well-known drinks supplier agrees she can put its logo on her website and event menus because they're working together on a summer events package.
It feels simple enough: download the logo, add it to the design, and get the campaign live. But then Amira wonders: can she use the logo on Instagram too? What if the supplier changes its mind? Does the logo need to appear in a certain size?
These are exactly the questions a logo licence agreement should answer. If your business wants permission to use another business's logo, a short, tailored agreement can give you the confidence to market the relationship without stepping on trade mark rights or brand rules.
Do You Need Written Permission To Use Another Business's Logo?
Yes, you should get written permission before using another business's logo, especially if you'll use it in marketing, sponsorship materials, packaging, your website or social media.
A logo is usually more than just an image. It may be protected by copyright as an artistic work, so copyright licence terms can matter, and it may also be registered or unregistered as a trade mark. In the UK, registered trade marks are protected under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and are recorded through the UK Intellectual Property Office, often called the UK IPO.
If you use a logo without permission, the practical problem is that the brand owner can ask you to stop, remove the material, destroy printed stock, or pay compensation if your use caused loss or confusion. Even if everyone had friendly intentions, a vague verbal approval can be hard to prove later.
Written permission doesn't need to be a huge document. For a simple partner logo use, it might be a short brand licence agreement that says:
- which logo you can use
- where you can use it
- how long the permission lasts
- whether approval is needed before publication
- what happens when the relationship ends
The aim isn't to make the project harder. It's to make sure both businesses are clear before anyone spends money on design, printing or advertising.
What Is A Logo Licence Agreement?
A logo licence agreement is a contract that gives your business permission to use someone else's logo in a defined way.
You might also hear it called a brand licence agreement, permission to use a logo agreement, trade mark licence agreement, or licence agreement for branding. The name matters less than what the agreement actually allows you to do.
For example, if a supplier says you can use its logo to show you're an authorised reseller, the agreement should say whether that permission covers:
- your website and online store
- email signatures and sales decks
- paid ads and organic social posts
- packaging, signage or uniforms
- press releases or case studies
The agreement should also be clear that the brand owner still owns the logo. Your business is simply getting a licence to use it for certain purposes.
This distinction matters because trade marks are all about source and reputation. If your use of the logo makes customers think your business is owned by, endorsed by or legally connected with the other brand in a way that isn't true, you can create confusion. That can put both brands at risk.
A good agreement draws a clean line: you can use the logo to promote the approved relationship, but you can't use it as if the other business has become your brand, your parent company or your guarantor.
What Scope Should Your Logo Licence Cover?
Your licence should cover the exact places, formats and purposes where you want to use the logo.
Scope is where many logo permissions become messy. A brand owner might happily approve a logo on your website, but not on paid advertising, product packaging or a billboard. From your side, you don't want to find out halfway through a campaign that the permission was narrower than you thought.
Key Scope Questions To Answer
- Purpose: Are you using the logo to show partnership, sponsorship, supply, reseller status, compatibility or membership?
- Channels: Does permission cover your website, social media, brochures, email marketing, pitch decks, signage, packaging or event materials?
- Territory: Is use limited to the UK, or can it appear in global campaigns?
- Format: Can you use the logo in video, print, digital ads, licensed merchandise or downloadable PDFs?
- Exclusivity: Is the permission non-exclusive, or are there any promises that the brand owner won't license others in your sector?
- Subcontractors: Can your marketing agency, printer or web developer handle and place the logo for you?
Say Mike runs a cleaning business in Leeds and wins a one-year contract with a local gym chain. The gym allows him to say he is an approved cleaning partner and use its logo on his website, sales deck and one LinkedIn announcement.
If Mike later adds the gym's logo to his van wrap without approval, that could go beyond the agreed scope. A van is public, long-term advertising, and the gym may not want its brand displayed that way. A clear agreement would stop that misunderstanding before Mike pays for the wrap.
How Do Approvals And Quality Control Work?
Approvals and quality control should work through a simple process that lets the brand owner protect its reputation without blocking every small marketing task.
Brand owners care about how their logo appears because poor placement can weaken the brand or make the relationship look different from what was agreed. For registered trade marks, quality control also helps show the owner is actively managing use of the mark.
Your agreement can keep this practical. It might say the brand owner must approve first-use materials, but not every identical repeat use. It can also set a response time, so your campaign doesn't sit in limbo.
A Practical Approval Process
- Submit materials: You send the final draft, mock-up or artwork to a named contact.
- Review period: The brand owner has, for example, 5 business days to approve or request reasonable changes.
- Approval standard: The brand owner can't withhold approval for reasons unrelated to brand use, unless the agreement says otherwise.
- Repeat use: Once approved, you can reuse the same material in the same context without fresh approval.
- Urgent fixes: If a published item contains an error, you remove or correct it within an agreed time.
The agreement should also refer to brand guidelines if the owner has them. These often cover colour, spacing, minimum size, background use, clear space, and wording such as "partner", "sponsor" or "authorised reseller".
If there are no brand guidelines, the agreement should still include basic rules: don't alter the logo, don't combine it with your logo into a new mark, don't use it in a misleading way, and don't place it near offensive, unlawful or low-quality content.
How Long Should Permission To Use A Logo Last?
The permission should last only as long as you need it, and it should line up with the commercial relationship behind the logo use.
If the logo use is tied to an event, the licence might run from the campaign launch date until 30 days after the event. If it's tied to a supplier arrangement, it might last while the supply agreement is active. If it's for a sponsorship, it might match the sponsorship term.
You should also agree what happens after the licence ends. This is often the part people forget, but it's one of the most useful clauses in the document.
Worked Example: A 6-Month Sponsor Campaign
Imagine your software startup sponsors a trade association's 2026 awards night. The association lets you use its event logo as "Silver Sponsor" for 6 months, from 1 March to 31 August 2026.
Your agreement might allow logo use on:
- your website sponsor page
- one email campaign to your mailing list
- three LinkedIn posts
- your event stand backdrop
It might also say you must submit artwork at least 10 business days before publication, and the association has 5 business days to respond. After 31 August 2026, you have 30 days to remove the logo from active marketing channels, but you can keep one archived news post saying you sponsored the 2026 awards.
Those numbers aren't set by law. They're commercial choices. The value is that everyone knows the timeline, so you aren't left guessing what to delete and when.
What Trade Mark Risks Should You Watch For?
You should watch for confusion, overclaiming the relationship, altering the logo and using the brand in a way that damages its reputation.
Trade mark risk is less about one technical sentence in a contract and more about how customers are likely to read your marketing. If your use suggests the other business has endorsed your whole company, guaranteed your product, or become part of your brand family, that can cause problems.
Common risk areas include:
- Implied endorsement: saying "trusted by" or "approved by" when the permission only covers a supplier relationship
- Passing off: presenting your goods or services in a way that could make customers think they come from the other brand
- Trade mark infringement: using a registered mark outside the scope of permission
- Brand dilution: using the logo too widely or in a context that weakens its distinctiveness
- Copyright issues: copying or adapting logo artwork beyond what was allowed
You should also be careful with comparative advertising, paid search ads, product compatibility claims and any trade mark coexistence terms. Those areas can raise separate advertising, consumer protection and trade mark issues, especially if the wording suggests a closer relationship than exists.
If your campaign involves customer data, such as a co-branded email campaign to both businesses' mailing lists, you may also need to think about UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Logo permission doesn't automatically give either party the right to share customer data or send marketing emails.
If the brand owner says the logo is registered, ask for the registration details or at least the correct legal owner name. This helps you avoid signing permission with a trading name that doesn't actually own the trade mark.
What Should A Logo Licence Agreement Include?
A logo licence agreement should include enough detail to make the permission clear, workable and easy to end if the relationship changes.
For a simple logo use arrangement, you may not need a long document. But templates often miss the practical details that matter most, especially approvals, brand guidelines and what happens to old materials. A lawyer should tailor the document before you use it, particularly if the logo is valuable or the campaign is public.
Fill-In Outline For A Short Logo Licence
- Parties: Write the full legal names of the business granting permission and the business receiving it.
- Background: Describe the commercial relationship, such as sponsorship, an underlying partnership agreement, supply or reseller status.
- Licensed logo: Identify the exact logo files, versions, colours and trade mark registration details if available.
- Permitted use: Set out the approved channels, materials, wording and purposes.
- Restrictions: State what you can't do, such as altering the logo, sublicensing it, or using it in paid ads without approval.
- Brand guidelines: Attach or describe the rules for size, colour, spacing, placement and accompanying wording.
- Approvals: Explain who approves materials, how to submit them and how quickly they must respond.
- Term: Set the start date, end date and any renewal process.
- Ending the licence: List when either party can terminate, including breach, reputational risk or the end of the main commercial relationship.
- After termination: Say when you must remove the logo and whether any archived or already-printed materials can remain.
- Ownership: Confirm the brand owner keeps all rights in the logo and any goodwill from your use belongs to them.
- Liability and indemnities: Allocate responsibility if one party's misuse causes loss, complaints or third-party claims.
- Confidentiality: Cover unpublished brand assets, campaign materials and commercial terms.
- Governing law: State that the agreement is governed by the laws of England and Wales if that's the intended position.
You can also add a sign-off schedule for approved materials. This is helpful when your team, the other brand's marketing team and an external agency are all working from different files.
Key Takeaways
- A logo licence agreement in the UK gives your business written permission to use another business's logo in a defined way.
- The most useful clauses are usually scope, approvals, quality control, duration and what happens when the licence ends.
- Don't assume website permission covers social media, paid ads, packaging, signage or printed materials.
- Brand guidelines and approval timelines help you move quickly without risking misuse of the logo.
- Trade mark, copyright and passing off risks can arise if your marketing suggests a closer relationship than the one you actually have.
- A short agreement can work well, but it should be tailored to the campaign, the brand and the commercial relationship.
If you'd like help with a logo licence agreement, brand approval terms, trade mark risk checks or co-branded campaign documents, you can reach us at 08081347754 or team@sprintlaw.co.uk for a free, no-obligations chat.
Drafted by Taylor, Sprintlaw's AI, and overseen by Alex Solo. How we write
Protect your brand
What intellectual property should you protect?
If a name, logo, design or other creative work matters to the business, check who owns it, what permissions you need and whether clearance or registration is appropriate.
Alex SoloCo-Founder
