How Does Trademarking Work?
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What Is a Trademark?
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A trademark is a symbol, word, phrase or combination of the three which acts as a call sign or identifier for a person, business or any other organization. A trademark is strongly associated with the creation of brands, and companies go to great lengths in order to strengthen its trademarks and get people to associate trademarks with its products. Some examples of trademarks are the McDonald's Golden Arches and the Nike Swoosh. Considering the considerable effort spent on developing trademarks as intellectual property, they can be legally registered in order to assist trademark holders with prosecuting those that try to copy them.
Registering a Trademark
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A trademark can be used without registration, but the person using it may have difficulty defending the trademark in the event that someone makes a close copy, or attempts to steal it all together. Given that knock-offs can create brand confusion, resulting in the "dilution" of the value of a trademark, registering is a good idea both to protect a trademark and to discourage copying. A trademark can be registered through an online application run by the federal government and cost $325 each. When someone goes to register a trademark, it is advisable that she look through a list of existing trademarks to ensure that her mark is not too similar to a mark that is already in use, or the application might be rejected. A trademark can be indicated by the symbol ™ but only a registered trademark can use the symbol ®.
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Trademark Versus Copyright
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The difference between a trademark and a copyright is often a source of confusion. While a trademark covers symbols, such as brands, logos, names, signatures, words and the like--things that could easily be stamped or printed on products in a very small area and immediately associate the item with a certain person, group or company, copyright covers original creative works. Original creative works include books, plays, short stories, music, dance and fine art. Similar to a trademark, a copyright can be registered on creative works in order to assist with the protection of copies of the work, although a copyright only costs $30 to register.
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