Snickers Gets a Custom Typeface — What It Means for Brand Identity

TLDR: Snickers has rolled out SNICKERS Sans — a full custom typeface from Studio Drama and JKR. It's an evolution of the existing wordmark, but it's also a strategic IP move. Custom type is now a standard play in the brand-defence toolkit, sitting alongside trademark filings, design patents, and trade dress. Here's what to look at on the Mars portfolio if you want to track the strategy.

Last updated: June 4, 2026.

What did Snickers actually change?

The new system includes two families: SNICKERS Sans Display (with Epic and Everyday styles for headlines and packaging) and SNICKERS Sans Text (Regular and Bold for body copy). The forms are drawn from the wordmark itself — the spine of the S, the rhythm of the vertical strokes, and the angled terminals are baked into every letter.

Studio Drama also refined the iconic logotype, adjusting spacing and tightening structural relationships between letters. The bar still looks like a Snickers bar; everything else feels more intentional.

Why does a custom typeface matter for trademark strategy?

A custom typeface isn't just a design flex. For a brand like Snickers — owned by Mars, Incorporated — it's a strategic IP play. When every brand asset uses a proprietary font that can't be licensed by competitors, the brand's visual footprint becomes inherently distinctive. That matters under TMEP §1202 (what can and can't be protected as a mark) and especially in design-patent / trade-dress disputes where distinctiveness is the whole game.

"Likelihood of confusion analysis depends on the overall commercial impression of the mark — not the literal characters alone." — paraphrasing the long line of cases starting with Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co. (1995).

A bespoke typeface raises the floor on "overall commercial impression." Everything from packaging to in-store signage to TV ads carries the same visual fingerprint — easier to defend, harder to imitate without it being obvious.

Who else has gone full custom-type, and why?

The playbook is well established. Apple shipped San Francisco. Netflix shipped Netflix Sans. Airbnb shipped Cereal. Samsung has SamsungSharpSans. The pattern: as brands sprawl across more touchpoints — packaging, app, OOH, social, retail, in-app — a custom typeface is the connective tissue that keeps everything recognisably "them" without leaning entirely on the logo.

Two things to notice on those owner profiles:

Each one has heavy filing activity in Class 9 (Scientific & Electric) for software and digital assets — including, in some cases, the typeface itself as part of broader software claims.
Each one shows long-tail filing in Class 25 (Clothing) and Class 30 (Staple Foods) or Class 29 (Meats & Processed Foods) for merch and category extensions — exactly the surfaces that benefit most from a unified visual identity.

What does Mars' trademark portfolio actually look like?

Mars, Incorporated is one of the most active trademark filers in food and confectionery. Their portfolio spans well beyond chocolate — pet care (Pedigree, Royal Canin), gum (Orbit, Extra), and food brands across dozens of NICE classes.

The SNICKERS mark itself sits in multiple classes, including Class 30 (Staple Foods) for confectionery and Class 25 (Clothing) for branded merchandise. The Class 25 footprint is a hint at why a custom typeface earns its budget — you can't license a Snickers hoodie without the Snickers visual system, and the visual system is now proprietary end-to-end.

If you want a worked example of how Mars uses class expansion as a brand-defence strategy, run the comparison on Mars vs The Hershey Company.

How should brand teams read a typeface rebrand as a signal?

Three signals worth tracking after a major typographic refresh:

New NICE class filings within 6–12 months. Custom type costs are usually amortised over an upcoming product line. Watch for fresh Class 25 (apparel), Class 28 (toys, games), or Class 41 (entertainment) filings on the owner.
International expansion. A typeface supporting "300+ languages" (Snickers' line) signals real market entries. Track via Mars' owner profile and cross-reference against WIPO Madrid System filings.
Enforcement uptick. Distinctive type makes lookalike packaging easier to challenge. Keep an eye on TTAB proceedings for opposition activity in the months following.

FAQ: SNICKERS Sans and brand typography

Is a custom typeface a trademark?

The typeface itself is generally protected as software / artistic work rather than as a trademark — see U.S. Copyright Office Circular 33 on typeface designs. However, the wordmarks set in that typeface — like "SNICKERS" — are protected as trademarks, and the consistent visual presentation can also be claimed as trade dress.

Why do brands invest in proprietary type if they can just license one?

Three reasons: distinctiveness (harder to copy a bespoke design), licensing economics (no per-seat or per-territory fees forever), and brand control (no foundry can change pricing or pull a license). For brands that operate across many markets and touchpoints, the custom build pays for itself within a few years.

Where can I see Mars' full trademark portfolio?

On the Mars, Incorporated owner profile. It includes every USPTO-registered mark attributed to the entity, NICE class breakdown, recent filings, and the Expansion Score we calculate from the filing pattern.

Does WikiTrademarks track design patents and trade dress too?

Not yet — WikiTrademarks focuses on USPTO trademark records (TEAS / TSDR). Design patents are tracked separately by the USPTO patent search. Many of the strategic moves discussed here cross both systems.

How can I get alerted when Mars or another brand files a new mark?

Add the brand to your Watchlist from the brand profile page. New filings show up on your dashboard as they're indexed from USPTO bulk data — usually within 24–48 hours of the filing being public.