Article 2 of Japanese copyright law defines that a work is eligible for copyright when it is a production in which thoughts or sentiments are expressed in a creative way and which falls within the literary, scientific, artistic or musical domain. Japanese courts have decided that to be copyrightable, a text logo needs to have artistic appearance that is worth artistic appreciation. Logos composed merely of geometric shapes and texts are also not copyrightable in general. See COM:CRT/Japan#Threshold of originality for more information.

There are many logos and trademarks in the United States that are not protected by copyright because they are below the threshold of originality required for copyright protection. There are some cases that even logos and trademarks that have been judged to be copyrighted in foreign countries have also been judged not to be copyrighted in the United States. However, some logos and trademarks are copyrighted in the United States. See COM:CRT/United States#Threshold of originality for more information.