How To Get Something Trademarked Or Copyrighted – Start by choosing the right legal structure for your business. Then you just need to fill out a simple application
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How To Get Something Trademarked Or Copyrighted
Trademark and copyright help protect your intellectual property. It can be confusing to know the difference between the two and when you should use them.
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Trademarks and copyrights are intangible assets that bring revenue to your company and help you make money directly or indirectly.
As a business owner, you need them to protect your items such as your business name and logo, product names, designs and slogan.
A trademark or copyright protection prevents other people from using your creativity and/or brand to make money for themselves.
Let’s take a closer look at what copyrights and trademarks protect, their key features, the differences between them, and how to get them.
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Here is a detailed look at the characteristics of each and the difference between them.
Copyright is an intellectual property law that protects original literary and artistic works. These include items such as:
In addition to being original, your work must be creative and unique. This is not a trademark claim, which makes a fundamental difference between copyright and trademarks.
The work must be fixed on a physical medium in order to be protected by copyright. This means existing in a fixed form, such as a film, system, printed form, or recording.
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A work that is in the public domain cannot be copyrighted, which is another difference between copyright and trademarks.
There are different interpretations of what public domain means. In the US, this means any work written before 1923.
You can label common word phrases with the word “Apple,” as Apple Inc. did. You only have to prove that the name has a secondary meaning that is dictated by and different from the original meaning.
When copyright expires, is forfeited, or is waived, it cannot be renewed and is considered lost. A trademark can be renewed, which is another major difference between the two.
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Another difference between copyright and trademark is their validity period. In the United States, copyright in an original creative work attributable to a specific individual lasts for the lifetime of the author or creator plus 70 years.
Copyright for a work created under a pseudonym or anonymously may last 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
Copyright protects original published and unpublished works, unlike trademarks. This is another difference between copyright and trademark. You can copyright your work right from creation.
The copyright holder of the work reserves the exclusive right to reproduce, print, display, publish (online) and distribute the work. When these rights are violated, they can act and sue for copyright infringement.
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Copyright protects your work and ensures the protection of your source of income. Anyone else can get permission to use this work by obtaining a license or by purchasing the work from the copyright owner.
Therefore, when someone does not get consent in the form of a license agreement or purchase, they can be sued for copyright infringement.
In 2020, the US Copyright Office issued more than 443,000 registrations, collecting more than $33 million in registration fees.
Here are some things you can do to avoid copyright infringement and subsequent lawsuits that can pose financial problems for your business. Taking these actions can also help you avoid having your work stolen.
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Register with the US Copyright Office: Trademarks are registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office. For copyright, you must register your work with the US Copyright Office. This is one of the main differences between them.
Copyright registration is the best way to protect your work or works while ensuring that you are not infringing on other people’s creative work as well.
It may not be mandatory, but another benefit of registration is that it makes it easier to sue if someone tries to steal your work.
A copyright registration application can be submitted online or by post. You will need a copy or copies of the original work, the application fee and a completed application form.
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If you are not sure how to do this, you can seek legal advice to make sure you are doing it correctly.
Use the copyright symbol: If you have applied for and received copyright, you can show this on your work by declaring that your work is copyrighted.
You can do this by using the © copyright symbol and provide additional details such as the date the work was first published and the owner of the work. Here is an example.
As we will see, there are many symbols you can use for trademarks, which is the main difference between trademarks and copyrights.
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Use a unique identifier for your work: Using a unique identifier on your work makes it harder for other people to reproduce it. It also helps people distinguish an original work from a copied work. You can use a watermark on your books or videos, for example.
When trying to protect your work, there is a common practice known as poor man’s copyright. This is where creators send copies of their own original work to confirm that the work was owned by them.
Copyright Poor man does not provide any protection under copyright law, nor is it a substitute for copyright registration.
If you’ve started a business, a trademark covers and protects business names, slogans, logos, and other brand identity elements that consumers can use to recognize your brand in the marketplace.
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For example, if your company has a legal name and a trade name, you can trademark the trade name if it is the name with which consumers identify your products.
However, if you want to obtain trademark rights, the name should be unique enough to your LLC and products. You cannot trademark generic terms such as “coffee” or “computers”.
The process of applying for a trademark is intensive compared to the process of obtaining official copyright. This is another difference between copyright and trademark.
However, just like registering a copyright, registering a trademark offers you legal protection. It will also prevent you from using trademarks that have already been taken.
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Once you are sure that your trademark is unique, you will need to register it with the USPTO. You can hire our legal services to simplify registration.
You’ve worked hard to brand your business and stand out in the market. Here’s how to go about the process of getting an official trademark to protect your work.
Step 1: Choose a brand and determine what it represents. It concerns the goods or services that will be associated with the trademark.
Step 3: Using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), choose whether you want to create a TEAS Plus application or a standard application. TEAS Plus is cheaper, helps you save some money, and is more likely to be approved as a standard option. It also has less requirements at the beginning.
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However, unlike the standard TEAS option, TEAS Plus allows you to select only goods and services that have been approved by the USPTO.
Step 4: Fill the application form provided. This will be processed within approximately 60 to 80 days.
Step 5: Don’t forget to keep a close eye on the progress of your application. This is because there may be other requirements that you may be asked to address and you would not want to miss the deadline.
Step 6: Your application will be reviewed and if it meets the specified requirements, it will be sent to a lawyer for further review. A lawyer may or may not find fault with it.
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If so, you will have 6 months to resolve any issues. If the issues are not resolved after six months, the application will be cancelled.
Step 7: Once the attorney approves your application, your copyright will be published by the USPTO. This is to make it public in case any other business wishes to file an infringement claim. The period in which they can assert their claims is 30 days.
Step 9: You need to make sure your registration documents are secure and up-to-date to keep your trademark relevant.
As we mentioned earlier, the main difference between copyrights and trademarks is that as long as you continue to use your federal trademark, your ownership of the intellectual property will be valid.
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Trademarks give you the right to use them for commercial purposes. It also protects these rights from competitors, making your business the sole beneficiary of your logo, wording, etc.
However, if this right is violated, you can file an infringement lawsuit. What would it look like? Here’s a deeper dive.
When you take your trademark infringement case to court, you need to show them these items.
The court will then examine the similarities and differences between the marks, if any
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The court will also consider the intention of the alleged trademark infringer. Is it sabotaging their competition?
Another difference between copyright and trademark is that there are many types of trademarks. It is important to know the difference between them. They include.
A trademark symbol uniquely identifies your brand, catchphrase, logo, etc.
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