Verified as of 1 October 2026. If you spot an error, write to me.
The name you sign with, the address of your website and a registered trade mark may coincide, but they follow different rules. None automatically replaces the others. This guide explains what each instrument does and when it may make sense to register it.
The name you sign with
You do not need to register a trade mark to be an author or to disclose a work under your name or a pseudonym. The Intellectual Property Act recognises the author's right to decide whether the work is disclosed under their name, under a pseudonym or sign or anonymously. It also presumes as author, unless proven otherwise, the person who appears as such on the work through their name, signature or identifying sign.
A signature makes attribution easier, but it is not definitive, incontestable proof. Keep documentation that links your identity to the works: photographs of the process, dated files, invoices, contracts, exhibitions, publications and inventory records. If you use a pseudonym, keep it consistent and document its link to your legal identity.
The title of a work is protected only as part of it when it is original. A short, descriptive or common title may not reach the threshold of originality, or may conflict with other signs used in the market.
The domain of your website
A domain name is an address within the internet system. Registering one does not by itself create copyright or a trade mark, and it must be maintained through the corresponding renewals. If it lapses and becomes available again, someone else may register it.
For .es, assignment is automatic when the name is free, subject to the exceptions and restrictions provided for certain domains. Red.es manages the register and has an out-of-court procedure for disputes over ownership. It is not enough for a domain to resemble your name: to obtain its transfer or cancellation, the requirements of the procedure must be met, including proof of prior rights, the holder's lack of a legitimate right or interest and registration or use in bad faith.
Prior rights admitted under the .es policy include trade marks and trade names; civil names and well-known pseudonyms that identify creators professionally; and certain official designations. Keep evidence, dated before the dispute, that the name identified you and of how you used it.
As a practical measure, check early whether the main domain is available, register only the extensions you can maintain, turn on renewal and keep the recovery email up to date. Registering many variants without being able to monitor them can be more costly than useful.
The trade mark
A trade mark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of others. In Spain it is applied for at the Spanish Patent and Trade Mark Office; a European Union trade mark is applied for at the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Protection is granted for specific goods and services classified by categories.
A Spanish trade mark is granted for ten years from the filing date and can be renewed for successive periods of ten years. Before applying, it is worth searching for earlier signs and defining the territory, the classes and the intended use well. Registration does not reserve the term for every imaginable activity.
For many artists it is not essential. Authorship of the works exists independently of the trade mark. It may make sense when the name also works as a market sign for editions, publications, services, products, a studio, a platform or a collective project.
Personal name, pseudonym and image
The Trade Marks Act prevents registering, without authorisation, in the cases covered by Article 9, the civil name or the image that identifies another person. It also protects the name, surname or pseudonym by which another person is identified by the general public. These are relative prohibitions: normally the person entitled must assert them through opposition or the corresponding action; the office does not automatically turn any coincidence with a name into a refusal.
These rules do not mean that any use of your name by a third party infringes a trade mark, or that a little-known pseudonym is protected against all registrations. Context, earlier rights, the goods or services and the risk of confusion all matter.
A trade mark must be used
If a Spanish trade mark has not been put to genuine use in Spain during the five years following the date its registration becomes final, or if its use is interrupted for five years, it becomes subject to the legal consequences of non-use, unless there is proper reason. These may include revocation, but it does not always occur automatically through the mere passage of time: it must be asserted through the procedures provided.
The use must correspond to the goods or services for which the mark was registered. Using the sign only to keep it formally alive, without real activity consistent with its distinctive function, may not be enough. The European litigation over signs associated with Banksy shows why a registration should not be treated as an abstract deposit separate from use, although each case depends on its facts and its procedural history.
What to do depending on your case
- You are starting out: choose a form of signature, check that it does not cause confusion and document its use.
- You need a website: register a domain you can renew and keep, with the account in your name or under your control.
- You use a pseudonym: use one consistent form and retain evidence of its connection to you.
- You sell goods or services under that name: study earlier signs, classes and territories before applying for a trade mark.
- You find a domain or trade mark belonging to someone else: keep evidence and study the right procedure before contacting or publicly accusing its holder.
Further reading
About the open conversation
This guide explains general rules in Spain. Whether a trade mark or a domain claim is viable depends on the signs, the dates, the goods or services, the territory and the evidence. Before filing an application or starting a dispute, consult a professional specialising in industrial property. If you spot an omission, write to me.
Sources
- Real Decreto Legislativo 1/1996, Ley de Propiedad Intelectual, texto consolidado, arts. 6, 10.2 and 14.
- Ley 17/2001, de Marcas, texto consolidado, arts. 4, 9, 19, 31, 32, 39 and 54.
- Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas.
- Oficina de Propiedad Intelectual de la Unión Europea.
- Dominios.es, normativa de los dominios
.es. - Dominios.es, procedimiento de resolución extrajudicial de conflictos.