Copyrights and Trademarks – Does Your Business Need Both?
Read more articles about this topic in these categories - Copyright, Trademarks
Email This Post
By Shannon Moore
Protecting the intellectual property aspects of your business is a worthwhile investment. However, it is difficult to know what form of intellectual property works for what facets of your business. Let’s take the time to break all that down.
Copyrights:
Copyrights can be obtained for things of an artistic nature. This includes, of course, poetry, films, sculptures, music, fiction, etc. But can also include things that may not necessarily seem “artistic” in the general sense of the word. Copyrights can also be obtained for advertising copy, games, software programs and blueprints, to name just a few.
To protect text as it appears on advertising copy, speeches, pamphlets, brochures, online works, reports, etc. a Literary Works application would be filed.
To protect pictorial or graphic items such as technical drawings, posters, labels, games, etc. a Visual Art Works application would be filed.
Only a few items that could be protected by copyright are noted here so if you have other items in mind, please check with the US Copyright Office.
Trademarks:
A “registered trademark”, or ®, refers to a name, slogan or logo that has been officially registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Registering a trademark is beneficial to a business because it publicly states that your trademark is registered with the USPTO and therefore, you have exclusive rights to that name within your industry.
Prior to investing your time, money & effort into a name, it is strongly advised that comprehensive research be conducted to ensure that the name you’re interested in is truly available.
This entails searching the pending & registered Federal and State trademark files as well as the US National Common-Law files. Then, if clear, you can decide if you would like to file for a Federal or a State trademark.
Shannon Moore is the General Manager for TradeMark Express. Since 1992, TradeMark Express has met the needs of their clients with comprehensive research, application preparation, attorney referrals and trademark consultation. For further details, please visit us on the web at TradeMark Express or call Shannon directly at 800.340.2010.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shannon_Moore