Trademark Law Basics
This 9-video series teaches you the basics about trademark and copyright law.
What Is A Trademark?
A trademark can be anything distinctive that distinguishes your goods and services from others' goods and services.
It can be a word, a phrase, a distinctive design, a color, or even a sound. The most important thing is that it be distinctive for your goods and services, such that when the consuming public sees your trademark -- whatever it may be -- they know that the goods or services came from your company as opposed to another company.
What Is A Common Law Trademark?
A "common law" trademark is an unregistered trademark. While you don't have to register a trademark -- you have common law trademark rights just by using your mark -- relying on your common law rights can prove fatal to your plans to expand to a new geographic area, and can limit your rights to just your city. Common law trademarks don't appear in the USPTO database, so others can't find them and avoid them, which can cause you to be involved in expensive trademark litigation later. It's always better to register your trademark to ensure that it's yours.
Why Should I Register My Trademark? Part 1
Trademark registration gives you many more rights and protections than that of a "common law" trademark, so it's a good idea to register your trademark. Reasons to register your trademark include nationwide trademark rights, your mark being listed in the trademark database for others to find and avoid, and you're presumed to have the best rights to the trademark and to be the true owner. These presumptions are a powerful advantage in the event of a trademark dispute later, and put the burden upon the challenger of your trademark registration to prove otherwise.
Why Should I Register My Trademark? Part 2
Here are 3 more reasons to register your trademark -- just in case you needed more and part 1 wasn't enough.
Trademark registration gives you 3 more important advantages, such as the trademark office refusing registration of conflicting trademarks, a more intimidating position from which to confront trademark infringers, and the ability to claim enhanced damages of up to three time actual damages for certain types of trademark infringement.
Do I Have To Register My Trademark?
No, you don't have to register your trademark, but there are powerful reasons -- mentioned in the last two videos, above -- why trademark registration is incredibly advantageous to the registrant. It gives the owner of the trademark registration many advantages that are not otherwise available, and the presumption that he or she is the true owner of the trademark. This means that in the event of litigation, the trademark owner is in the best position to prove his or her ownership of the trademark.
Where Should I Register My Trademark?
If you want nationwide rights to use your mark in all United States territories and states, you must register your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. If you register your mark with your state's trademark office, you get protection for that state only -- and it won't give you better rights than someone who has previously filed a trademark application or gotten a registration with the USPTO. Federal trademark rights trump subsequent state registrations for the same or similar mark.
Should I Use the 'TM' or The 'R' Symbol on My Trademark?
If your trademark is in use, but not registered, then you can use the TM symbol along with your trademark, The circle R symbol is for trademarks that have been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It's convention to put the symbol on the right side of the mark, either in the lower right or upper right, whichever looks more aesthetic to you.
What's the Difference Between a Trademark and a Copyright?
A trademark protects your unique association between your trademark word, phrase, or symbol and your goods and services. A copyright exists to protect your right to reproduce or sell your proprietary creative works -- that is, anything that you created and that is fixed in a "tangible medium of expression."
What's the Difference Between a Trademark and a Patent?
A trademark protects your exclusive association between your unique word, phrase, or symbol and your goods and services. It prevents others from using that trademark or anything similar to sell goods that are the same or similar to yours. A patent protects your useful inventions. Unlike a copyright, which protects the tangible creative work, patent protects the idea or concept for the new invention. It prevents others from making, using, or selling any device which is covered by your patent claims.
Don't lose your trademark rights because you didn't protect them with a trademark registration.
Your trademark is your business signature, whether it's a special logo design, a word, or a catchphrase. Failure to protect this with a trademark registration can involve your business in costly and time-consuming disputes. Learn what you have the right to protect and how to protect it to save yourself needless worry and expense.
Don't lose your brand because it's violating someone else's trademark rights.
Others' trademark rights extend beyond their exact mark and beyond their exact goods. This means that your proposed trademark may infringe on someone else's mark, even if it's not exactly the same. It doesn't have to be identical to infringe. Learn where the boundaries are, and how you can avoid choosing a mark that infringes upon the rights of someone else. Avoiding trademark conflicts is good business.
Coming Soon: Even More Educational Courses
By popular demand, soon TrademarkDoctor.org will have even more free and paid educational courses, so that you can learn more about how to protect your valuable brands and creations.
You'll get practical advice in plain English via video courses that explain exactly what you need to know to successfully monetize your brands and creative works.