No matter what industry you’re in, it’s essential to protect your brand and intellectual property from competitors and imitators. Copyrights and trademarks are two tools that help you legally prove that you own your ideas, name, logo, and product designs.
But aren’t they the same thing? Do you even need them? We brought in Watson & Young, a team of expert trademark attorneys, to answer these questions and help us understand trademarks vs. copyrights. They also discuss which of these legal protections you might need and how they can help you build a long-lived, protected business.
Copyrights and trademarks can designate ownership of intellectual property. Generally, a copyright protects created works in artistic, literary, or intellectual spaces. Books, music, movies, photos, works of art, and plays are examples of things that can be copyrighted. Both tangible (e.g., a canvas painting) and digital (e.g., a digital photograph) works are eligible for copyright.
The U.S. Copyright Office registers copyrights in the United States. A copyright gives you the exclusive right to perform, display, reproduce, and distribute the work you create. It prohibits anyone else from copying, reproducing, or selling your work without your permission.
Copyright law can seem simple initially. Anytime you create an original work and fix it in a tangible or digital format (e.g., writing down song lyrics or typing computer code), you automatically own the copyright for it. Copyright covers both published and unpublished work. You own the copyright for your work for your entire life and 70 years after your death.
Creating an original work automatically gives you the copyright for that work. However, you can still choose to register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office. This isn’t required, but it can make it easier for you to defend your work if someone tries to steal or copy it.
Officially registering a copyright is helpful if you want to ensure that copycats can’t emulate your creation — or try to claim it as their own. Filing a copyright makes it much easier to report infringement and successfully convince the other party to stop using your works.
Registering a copyright involves submitting a complete application form and a copy of the work you want to copyright to the U.S. Copyright Office. Applications are accepted online or by mail. You need to include a title for your work; you can’t submit anything with a generic title such as “Untitled” or “Working Title.” However, your title doesn’t need to be unique — copyright law doesn’t protect titles.
You can hire a copyright attorney to help you register your works. It’s not required, but a copyright lawyer can help you avoid mistakes on your application and provide advice if you need to legislate your copyright in the future.
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A trademark is another type of legal protection that indicates ownership of intellectual property. Instead of protecting creative works, however, a trademark usually protects words or phrases that identify goods or services for commercial sale.
Most types of commercial IP are eligible for trademark registration. Some common examples include brand names, designs, logos, slogans, taglines, and product names. The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) determines whether your trademark is eligible for registration.
Trademarking prohibits others from using your brand name, logo, slogan, and products without your permission. Other individuals and companies may not use your trademark to sell commercial goods or services.
One of the reasons trademarks exist is to ensure that consumers know which brand they’re purchasing an item from. You can’t obtain a trademark that someone else already owns or one that is so similar to an existing trademark that consumers would likely be confused. The USPTO also determines whether your designed trademark is eligible for registration.
Choosing not to trademark your brand and other IP can have severe consequences. For example, a competitor could start selling your products or services, and you would have a hard time proving that you own those ideas.
Additionally, there can be negative consequences to waiting too long to register your trademark. Let’s say you come up with the perfect brand name for a new business, but you know it will take you a couple of years to be ready to launch.
You wait until you’re ready to launch and start your trademark application, only to find out that someone else has already registered the name you want to use! That means you have to either spend extra time building a case for your desired trademark or go back to the drawing board and come up with a new name, logo, or product.
Starting the trademark process when you first come up with your brand name or product idea can save a lot of time, money, and heartache.
The marketplace is competitive, and every industry has unethical individuals and companies willing to steal ideas from others. That’s why it’s crucial to take steps to protect your brand from imitators by establishing legal ownership of your intellectual property.
Copyrights and trademarks help you protect your intellectual property. Before you launch your company or release new products, it’s a good idea to get your trademark(s) so you can protect your brand from competitors. It can take over a year to get your trademark application approved, so it’s best to start as soon as possible.
This information was provided by the trademark attorneys at Watson & Young. Visit their website for more details about IP law or to schedule a consultation with their team. They can help with both copyright and trademark applications.
Zara knows how frustrating it can be to try and fit your career in a box while marching to the beat of your own drum. That’s exactly what led her to close the door on a thriving corporate legal career in order to pursue what truly encompassed all the skills and ambition in her wheelhouse: serving businessowners like you. Zara has served entrepreneurs since 2017 by providing trademark, copyright and contract template protection, always driven to empower and equip fellow dreamers with tangible legal tools to scale confidently. Along the way, she co-founded Watson & Young with her husband, Sean. She’s here to walk with you every step of the entrepreneurial path because she’s traveled this path, too. Zara knows it’s far less intimidating when you’ve got a partner who knows what’s around the bend!
