COPYRIGHT vs. TRADEMARK vs. PATENT Some people confuse patents, copyrights, and trademarks.

Although there may be some similarities among these kinds of intellectual property protection, they are different and serve different purposes. What Is a Copyright? Copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of "original works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. The 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work, to perform the copyrighted work publicly, or to display the copyrighted work publicly. The copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing. For example, a description of a machine could be copyrighted, but this would only prevent others from copying the description; it would not prevent others from writing a description of their own or from making and using the machine. Copyrights are registered by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. What Is a Trademark or Servicemark? A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms "trademark" and "mark" are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks. Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark. Trademarks which are used in interstate or foreign commerce may be registered with the Patent and Trademark Office. The registration procedure for trademarks and general information concerning trademarks is described in a separate pamphlet entitled "Basic Facts about Trademarks". What Is a Patent? A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. The term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. US patent grants are effective only within the US, US territories, and US possessions. The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, "the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling" the invention in the United States or "importing" the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right

to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention. (Excerpted from General Information Concerning Patents, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website) Some additional differences between a copyright and a trademark are as follows: 1. The purpose of a copyright is to protect works of authorship as fixed in a tangible form of expression. Thus, copyright covers: a) works of art (2 or 3 dimensional), b) photos, pictures, graphic designs, drawings and other forms of images; c) songs, music and sound recordings of all kinds; d) books, manuscripts, publications and other written works; and e) plays, movies, shows, and other performance arts. 2. The purpose of a trademark is to protect words, phrases and logos used in federally regulated commerce to identify the source of goods and/or services. 3. There may be occasions when both copyright and trademark protection are desired with respect to the same business endeavor. For example, a marketing campaign for a new product may introduce a new slogan for use with the product, which also appears in advertisements for the product. However, copyright and trademark protection will cover different things. The advertisement's text and graphics, as published in a particular vehicle, will be covered by copyright - but this will not protect the slogan as such. The slogan may be protected by trademark law, but this will not cover the rest of the advertisement. If you want both forms of protection, you will have to perform both types of registration. 4. If you are interested in protecting a title, slogan, or other short word phrase, generally you want a trademark. Copyright law does not protect a bare phrase, slogan, or trade name. 5. Whether an image should be protected by trademark or copyright law depends on whether its use is intended to identify the source of goods or services. If an image is used temporarily in an ad campaign, it generally is not the type of thing intended to be protected as a logo. 6. The registration processes of copyright and trademark are entirely different. For copyright, the filing fee is small, the time to obtain registration is relatively short, and examination by the Copyright Office is limited to ensuring that the registration application is properly completed and suitable copies are attached. For trademark, the filing fee is more substantial, the time to obtain registration is much longer, and examination by the Trademark Office includes a substantive review of potentially conflicting marks which are found to be confusingly similar. While copyright registration is primarily an administrative process, trademark registration is very much an adversarial process. 7. Copyright law provides for compulsory licensing and royalty payments - there is no analogous concept in trademark law. Plus, the tests and definition of infringement are considerably different under copyright law and trademark law.

CLOTHING ITEMS When it comes to copyright v. trademark, we get more questions about clothing than anything else. Here are a few guidelines: 1. Anything you silk screen or otherwise display prominently on the front or back of a shirt, top, cap or hat is generally considered artwork, and therefore covered by copyright. In fact, if you send a photo of a clothing item to the U.S. Trademark Office showing your design, logo or slogan prominently displayed on the front or back, they will refuse to register it as a trademark. 2. To qualify as a trademark, your logo or slogan must be used as the brand of the clothing item itself. In other words, your logo or slogan must be used the way clothing brands are typically used and displayed on clothing, namely, sewn into a waistband, collar, hem or pocket, or applied to a label, sticker or tag, and NOT in a way that dominates the appearance of the clothing item. 3. The caveat, of course, is that when your design, logo or slogan is regarded as artwork - even though it can be protected by copyright - the protection only extends to the artistic configuration used. To put it more bluntly, if you have a slogan or name, copyright law can protect the artistic way you display it, but the text itself is NOT protected. Copyright law does not cover names, words or short phrases. 4. The only way to protect a name, word, short phrase or other text, is to register it as a trademark. But this means that you have to change the way you use the mark from an artistic display to a brand name usage. 5. Yes, it is possible to register a design, logo, name or phrase under both copyright law and trademark law, so long as you use it in two different ways and you do it consistently. Keeping the two usages of the same design or text at the same time is not an easy task, and you can end up compromising your rights under copyright or trademark, or both, very easily if you aren't careful.

Copyrights, trademarks, and patents are all forms of legal protection provided by a governmental entity to inventors, musicians, businesses, and many others. Each offers a unique set of rights and protections, but differ in what they cover, as well as how long those protections last. In general, a copyright protects written or artistic works, like books, plays, musical compositions, and paintings; trademarks protect brand names and symbols, like logos; and patents protect inventions, including processes, devices, designs, and even plants. Copyrights A copyright protects a wide range of creative or intellectual work. This includes written works as well as dramatic, musical, and artistic creations. Some items covered by copyright include movies, songs, books, sculptures, and computer software. A copyright gives the creator exclusive rights to the material; typically, this includes the right to perform or display the work publicly as well as produce and sell copies of the material. The copyright owner may also import or export

the work, transmit it through radio or video, and decide who else may perform or financially profit from it. In most cases, a work does not have to be published to be copyrighted. Depending on where the work is produced, it may not even have to be registered. In the US, for example, a work is protected by copyright the moment that it is created. Registering the creation with a copyright office is often recommended, however, as it can help clarify any future disputes as to ownership. AdChoices Register Your Trademark in 1 Hour Anywhere in India. Call TM Registration - Rs.5499 09881133100 www.VeracityLegal.com Trade Mark Registration Rs 6000/-. OFF: Janak Puri,Delhi TM/Brand/Logo/Trademark 09891307088 csneeraj.in Provide Best Service By Experienced & Highly Qualified Trademark Registration Professionals. rnadvisory.com/Call_09015193794 UpTo 70% Off On Bras,Briefs & More. Top Brands On Sale. Hot Lingerie Hurry,Shop Now! Deals@Zivame Zivame.Com/Special_Offer Registration in 184 countries Quick, Easy & Reliable Trademark Registration www.marcaria.com/trademarks Though a copyright protects a form of expression, it does not affect the subject matter of the work. In other words, if someone wrote an article about a new car, the text of that article would be copyrighted, preventing someone else from using those exact words in the same order. This does not prevent others from writing their own original article about the new car, however, or from using or making the car themselves. The length of time that copyright protection lasts may vary based on jurisdiction. In the US, the term is based in part on the type of work involved; for most works produced after 1978, it lasts for 70 years after the death of the author. Throughout most of the world, the term granted is usually the life of the creator, plus an additional 50 or 70 years. After the term expires, the work typically becomes public domain, which means it is accessible by the general public without having to pay a fee or request permission from the copyright holder. For example, the works of William Shakespeare are in the public domain, so anyone can publish them in book form or make a movie based on one of his plays without asking for permission. A copyright is generally, technically territorial, or only good within the country of origin. Most nations, however, have agreements with other countries to honor each others' copyrights. Not every country shares such relationships, however, and a few countries provide little or no protection for works produced in other nations. Trademarks and Service Marks

A trademark is used to protect a word, symbol, device, or name that is used in commerce. The purpose of a trademark is to distinguish the products of one source, such as a company, from those of another. Although an individual can trademark something, the are usually applied for by businesses or legal entities. At its most basic, a trademark may be thought of as protection for a brand name. A service mark is essentially the same as a trademark, but applies to services rather than products. In general, registration of a trademark remains valid in the US as long as the holder continues to file the required documentation every 10 years. One common reason that a company might trademark a word or symbol is to prevent other companies from selling a comparable product using a very similar word or symbol as the brand. If the brand name or logo are not easy to distinguish, a consumer might confuse the product from one company with that of the other. A trademark does not, however, prevent other people or businesses from producing the same product or services under a different mark. For example, the Nike "swoosh" is a trademarked symbol that identifies products sold under the Nike brand; no other company that sells the same products running shoes, athletic apparel, etc. can use a similar logo. Reebok, however, can sell shoes and athletic gear under its own brand. A trademark does not necessarily have to be registered to be valid; in the US, an individual or company can claim rights over the use of a word or symbol in commerce simply by using it. Often, companies will add a to a brand name to establish ownership, and while they are waiting for a registered trademark () to be approved. Registering a mark with the US government gives the owner additional benefits, however, including the right to bring a lawsuit in federal court against another company it feels is infringing on the mark, the right to use the registered trademark symbol in commerce, and establishing a basis to register the trademark in other countries. There are no international trademarks. Owners of trademarks in the US who want to protect their marks in other countries must apply for that protection. There are registration systems, such as the Community Trademark System (CTM), which covers European Union member states, and the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks, which allow a trademark seeker to use one basic application to apply to register the trademark in any or all of the nations that are members of the system. Applying through these or other systems does not guarantee that the mark will be approved, however, and not all countries are members of such systems. Patents A patent is a form of legal protection for an invention. They afford inventors with property rights that are intended to prevent anyone else from making, using, or selling the patented invention. There are three types of patents: utility, plant, and design.

Utility patents cover those who invent new or develop a new and useful improvement on processes and machines, as well as those who discover new compositions of matter. This is what most people think of when they think of a patent; it includes things

like machines, an original series of steps for making something, and synthesized molecules and chemicals. Plant patents are designated for those who discover or invent, and reproduce a new variety of plant. Someone who develops a new distinct variety of apple, for example, could apply for a plant patent. Design patents are reserved for creators of new ornamental designs for functional items. This could include the design of a piece of furniture or a water bottle.

Patent protection lasts for a limited amount of time, usually 20 years from the date of the application, and is only effective in the country in which it was filed. The application must include a detailed description of how the invention works. Since a patent is considered "property," it may be bought, sold, mortgaged, or licensed by the owner. How to Get a Copyright, Trademark, or Patent The process for getting a copyright, trademark, or patent varies by country, as do the requirements for registration. Registration is not always required for copyrights and trademarks, although in both cases, there may be benefits to doing so. In most cases, an applicant must file the appropriate paperwork with a specific governmental agency, some of which allow for online filing. In the US, trademarks and patents can be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), while copyrights can be registered through the United States Copyright Agency. Usually, the agency will charge a fee for filing; typically, these fees and the waiting periods for approval or rejection are higher for trademarks and patents, since the USPTO conducts a substantive review of those applications to avoid potential conflicts.