Trademarks are intellectual property that protects an individual or company’s brand. Trademarks can shield catchphrases, layouts, titles, machines, phrases, or logos connected with goods or services. Trademark protection permits companies to demonstrate that they are the source of the goods or services and differentiate them from other companies, thereby supplying an affirmative defense to infringement. Trademark infringement can happen when a company uses a mark that a separate company has already trademarked or if the mark is so alike that it will confuse the general public.
An experienced Roseville business attorney from The Sterling Law Group, A.P.C. can help you understand your rights regarding copyright and trademark infringement.
What Is Trademark Infringement?
Trademark infringement happens when an individual or company uses a trademark without permission from the owner of the trademark in a way that will be likely to confuse or mislead the public about the origin of the services or goods.
How Are Trademark Rights Established?
Similar to copyright, trademark protection doesn’t need any formal action. It can be specified by legitimately utilizing the mark in a business or commercial environment.
What Can I Do to Protect My Trademark Better?
Although not needed, recording your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has particular benefits, including better shielding you from trademark infringement. Federal trademark registration forms a legal presumption that the registrant is the trademark owner. Further, a trademark owner who registers their trademark with the USPTO is entitled to file a lawsuit in federal court in the event of an infringement.
Copyright Protection
Luckily, a few fundamental building blocks comprise most of the foundation of the actionable info an individual needs to understand their basic rights under copyright law.
Rights
Copyright protection indicates that the work’s copyright holder has exclusive rights to print, display, distribute, and perform the work. In addition, the holder has exclusive rights to publish and share the work on the Internet.
Creation
To merit copyright protection, a work must be original.
Tangible medium
A copyrighted work must be “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” At the same time, that may sound technical, but it’s essential to understand.
The work must be in some fixed form, such as a textbook, map, graph, photo, dramatic work, statue, movie, sound recording, or computer program.
Duration
Copyright lasts for the life of the author or creator of the material plus seventy years and extends to performance, presentation, and web transmission of the work.
Gray Areas in the Law
One overlapping area of law and precedent between copyrights and trademarks concerns short words and phrases.
These phrases are commonly thought of as pertaining to trademarks, but they can be copyrightable. When courts and the United States patent and trademark office are persuaded that the items show satisfactory creativity and originality, copyright protection is given.
Copyright and trademark are both critical protections and when appropriately understood, can be used to protect products and artistic creations effectively. Understanding the extent of your privileges and the ways intellectual property protections work can help you make the most of your work and stop expensive and straining legal actions.
Getting Legal Help from a Business Law Attorney Near You
If you have any questions about trademark infringement or want to know more about the trademark, contact our best Roseville business attorney from The Sterling Law Group, A.P.C. today and take the first steps towards protecting your intellectual property as many clients in Roseville, Sacramento, and nearby.