Unfortunately, copyright law has a reputation for appearing opaque and incomprehensible to outsiders.

Fortunately, this guide will help you understand the basics of copyright and trademark law.

Trademark 101

Let’s start at the very beginning – what is a trademark?

As defined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, a trademark is a symbol, word, phrase, or design that serves to identify and distinguish the goods and services of one party from another. A “service mark” is something that is the actual mark that serves as a stand-in for the company – think the Golden “M” for McDonald’s or the “swoosh checkmark shape” for Nike. That said, “trademark” is often used to collectively refer to the company, goods, services, and marks.

What about copyright?

Where a trademark typically refers to a company, copyright typically refers to media and art. Books, films, plays, video games, songs – when produced by professional commercial artists, can all be covered by copyright.

The Requirements for Registering a Trademark in the United States

If you have read all of that and think you’re ready to file a trademark, you may want to hold that thought – there’s a lot more to it than that.

For one thing, if you are “a foreign-domiciled applicant,” you need to make sure you go through the application process in the United States. While the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and other countries and political blocs are signatories to The Paris Convention, copyrights and trademarks that exist in one country do not immediately transfer over to the US system. Moreover, a UK or EU solicitor may not be able to file on your behalf, as you will need to have a US-licensed attorney represent your trademark filing when sending in your application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

That requirement does not extend to US citizens, though it is highly advisable to hire someone who is a specialist in US trademark law.

For both the United States and foreign-domiciled applicants, neither foreign attorneys nor non-attorneys are allowed to provide legal advice pertaining to the application process. In addition, they may not help you fill out the form, sign the documents for you, or otherwise act on your behalf. Doing any of this could result in your application being delayed, jeopardized, or ruled invalid.

There are many additional legal guidelines and requirements you’ll have to meet before you can apply for a trademark, including:

•  Is the trademark federally registerable? You’ll need to check the rules for what can and cannot be trademarked. While this is somewhat subjective, as a general rule, the more unique and distinctive a mark, design, or slogan is, the better your chances of it being ruled as federally registerable as a trademark. For example, “We provide great service” is obviously far too generalized to be trademarked – that’s a common phrase many businesses and people use. On the other hand, the McDonalds symbol is distinctly and unmistakably for McDonald’s and only McDonalds and is thus federally registered and protected as a trademark.
•  Identifiable Goods or Services? What exactly does your service or company “offer”? What does your product “do”? Questions such as these are necessary for making sure that commercial trademarks are only given to active companies offering real, legal goods and services. The more distinctly you can answer these questions, the better your chances.
• Proper Filing? You must make sure that you have gone through the application process step by step, and have filed the right type of paperwork for the right type of trademark, patent, or copyright. There are differences between those last three, as explained below, so make sure you are applying for the specific type of Intellectual Property protection you need.

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Making Your Mark

If you look at antique books or pieces of porcelain, you’ll often find they have identifying markings that show where they were manufactured and by which company. That practice obviously continues today with trademarking. With the advent of different forms of media, the concept of a defining “mark” has been expanded to include other forms of product and service identification.

To be trademarked, your product will need to make use of at least one of these three types of identifying marks:

● Standard Character Format: This pertains to the use of standard letters, numbers, words, or combinations. For example, eBay, AT&T, and 21^st Century Fox are all examples of trademarked company names protected by trademark law.

● Special Character Format: This pertains to special unique designs or stylized elements. The spherical logo for AT&T, for example, as well as the stylized font in the spelling of “eBay”, fits into this category.

● Sound Mark: This pertains to copyrighted musical or tonal pieces. The iconic drum and fanfare at the beginning of a 21^st Century Fox film is a perfect example.

Difference Between Trademarks, Copyrights, and Patents?

One major difference between trademarks and copyrights (and patents) is that the latter can expire while the former does not. Something that is trademarked can remain that way forever, as long as the mark remains in use in a commercial way that serves to distinguish your goods and services from another. Trademark registration can also last forever, as long as you continue to file the required documents and pay fees at the required intervals.

Copyright, on the other hand, can expire, though it now applies for longer than ever before. For works created by individual creators, copyright protection in the United States extends for the life of the creator plus 70 years. For works created under a pseudonym, anonymously, or for hire (such as part of a corporation like Disney) copyright extends until 95 years after the date of publication or 120 years after the date of creation, whichever is shorter.

Finally, patents pertain to inventions. These can include new or improved machines, manufactured items, chemical compositions, and manufacturing processes. The protections for patents are far more limited, with a design patent only lasting 15 years from issuance (14 if filed before May 13, 2015) or 20 years in the case of utility and plant patents.

Copyright Infringement Suits

Finally, what about copyright infringement?

This is the unauthorized use of any of the trademarked elements listed above. To constitute copyright infringement, the similarity has to be such that a consumer would be confused, deceived, or given to mistake one product for the other.

Suits for trademark and copyright infringement often wind up in federal court. The burden of proof is on the copyright holder making the claim that the offending product or service has infringed upon their copyright. If they are successful in making this claim, penalties for the guilty party can range from injunctions and cease and desist orders to the destruction of products bearing the infringed upon mark to monetary compensation.

Just like trademarks themselves, every copyright and trademark infringement case is different, you’ll want to consult with a lawyer about the particulars of your case.

With this introductory guide, you should be better equipped to navigate the world of trademark and copyright law.

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The post The Blogger’s Guide to Copyright and Trademark Law appeared first on Tricky Enough.

1. What Does It Cover?

If you have business that is creating any of the following, it is automatically protected by the copyright law, once it is created: literary works (including books, web pages, IT programs, etc.), artistic works (musical, dramatic, visual works), videos and broadcasts, databases, typographical arrangements, etc. Any medium that is used to create any of the above work is covered by the law (including internet). However, there are plenty of things that copyright does not cover, such as ideas, names, phrases (these are covered by trademarks), industrial processes and products (these are covered by patent registration). A good thing about copyright is that, unlike other IP Laws, it is an automatic right once the work has been created. therefore, it does not need registration. The time during which the work is protected differs depending on the form of work, and where and when it has been created. Usually, it is around 70 years upon the death of the creator that the work is protected.

2. Is It Beneficial To Your Business?

Works protected by copyright can be a perpetual money spinner for your business. If your company own any kind of works that have any commercial value – such as advertising catchy sound, video work or design – you can manage how and when it is used in advertisements (or anywhere else). It means that every time someone plays your sound, or uses your design (of course, with your authorization), you can charge it. If they play it on the radio ten times, you charge it ten times. Basically, you are the owner of copyrights, but you get to decide who can use it and how. It also means that contractors cannot use, rent, perform or reprint your work without your approval. Given that copyright is a property right, it is eligible for sale, license, transfer or inheritance.

3. When Should You Register?

Although registering your work is not necessary, as it is automatically protected by the law, registration also has its own benefits. Marking your work with watermark will clarify to other people that it is protected by copyright. Especially if you publish it online. Registration is mostly beneficial for companies that have commercial value work, but it also very gainful in other aspects. Copyright registration provides you with civil damages and lawyer’s expenses if you ever have to require your copyright law. On top of that, it is not easy to find an attorney to work on your case, unless you previously registered your work (before someone illegally used it). That is because once your work is registered it means substantial statutory damage (talking $100,000,00 or more), which makes it much more attractive for the lawyer. Whereas there are lawyers who will want to work “on contingency”, which means that you pay them with part of damages award after the case (if you win), they are still pretty rare to find. If you are not lucky enough to find them, you will have to prepare a large amount of money upfront, for attorney’s fees. All these benefits will probably make you think about registration more seriously. Although taking into consideration that a lot of companies produce a significant amount of content every day, that should be registered, it is not an easy choice.

4. Copyright Infringement

Violating the copyright law will put you at high risk of heavy penalization. That is to say, if you use, perform, or copy the work in any way (or the substantial part of it), without granted permission from the author, you are probably going to end up in big trouble. In other words, you cannot: rent, sell, lend copies of the work; perform a play/show to the public; broadcast it, or make any adaptations of work – without permission that is. You will have to pay high compensations to the owner of copyrights, to say the least. There is a little bit of confusion regarding copyrights when it comes to “substantial part” of the work. Although it is not defined in copyright law, it means a qualitatively big part of work. Furthermore, even a very small part is likely to be a subject to copyright law. probably the most common copyright violation is copying software and using it for free, with no license. Another common misuse of the copyrighted work is playing the music in public (coffee shops, restaurants, clubs, etc.). Plenty of newbie business owners are not even aware of this and are most likely to do it unintentionally.

5. How To Deal With Infringement?

Making sure that you are doing everything to protect your work is number one when it comes to preventing copyright violation. That is why registration may be a great option. Therefore even when it comes to infringement, you still have a lot of benefits regarding lawyer and penalty fees. The first step to take if you believe that your work has been unlawfully reproduced is to ask for advice from a specialist. They will advise you to send the warning letter to the violator. It may be the case that they have done it unintentionally and that they will stop even before lawyers, courts, and all that mess. Of course, if that does not work, you should proceed with your case, seeking further legal advice from more specialized attorneys, as Actuate IP Trademark lawyers are. If you end up in court and win the case, you will most likely end up with awarded damages and injunction to the misusage of your work. Even though it may sound easy, court cases are very expensive and they drain a lot of your energy and time. Work your best to try to avoid it by negotiating with other parties, and coming to some kind of understanding. There is more likely that they will accept it, as they have their entire integrity and plenty of money to lose. In some rare cases, negotiation even led to damaged parties to agree to license the material for the other party to use.

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Understanding the law structure can be confusing and hard sometimes, especially if the nature of your business has nothing to do with it. However, having knowledge about copyright and IP laws is one of the first things that you have to start implementing. It will prevent your business from conducting a copyright violation, and it will lead your company to success by stopping your intellectual property being misused. If you still find it hard to understand the basics of copyrights and Intellectual Property Laws, you can always seek additional information from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). They can provide you with comprehensive guidance on any area that you are struggling with to understand.

The post What You, As A Business Owner, Should Know About Copyright appeared first on Tricky Enough.