Trademarks vs Copyrights What Does Your Business Need

There are a few key differences between trademarks and copyrights. Trademarks protect logos, symbols, or other branding elements that identify a company or product. Copyrights, on the other hand, protect creative works like art, music, and literature. Both can be registered to give the owner certain legal protections.

What is a Trademark?

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one company from those of others. A service mark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than goods. The term “trademark” is often used to refer to both trademarks and service marks.

There are a few things that can’t be trademarked: generic terms, common surnames, geographic names, or descriptive phrases. So, for example, you could not trademark the word “car” or the name “Smith.” But you could trademark a specific car model like “Ford Mustang” or a unique surname like “Kangaroo.”

There are 45 classes of goods and services that can be trademarked. These classes are divided into two categories: product (or goods) trademarks and service marks.

Product trademarks identify and distinguish the source of physical products, like computers or automobiles. Service marks identify and distinguish the source of a service, like accounting or legal services.

What is a Copyright?

A copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it. Copyright law protects creative works like books, music, and artwork. It also applies to other works of authorship, such as computer code, websites, and architecture.

Copyrights are granted by the government, and they generally last for the “life of the author plus 70 years”. [U.S. Copyright Office]. After that, the work enters the public domain and can be used by anyone.

There are a few things that can’t be copyrighted: ideas, facts, or short phrases. So, for example, you could not copyright the idea of a car, but you could copyright a specific design for a car.

What Are the Key Differences Between a Trademark and Copyright?

• Trademarks can be renewed indefinitely, while copyrights generally last for “the life of the author plus 70 years.” [U.S. Copyright Office].

• You can trademark a phrase, word, or symbol, but you can only copyright an original work of authorship.

• Trademarks can be licensed to other companies, while copyrights generally cannot.

• If someone infringes on your trademark, you can sue for damages. If someone infringes on your copyright, you can sue for monetary damages and to stop the infringement.

Which One Does Your Business Need?

Across the internet, there seems to be quite a bit of confusion and I have seen individuals use the terms interchangeably. It is important to know the difference, especially if you are searching the wrong database to see if your business assets can be trademarked or copyrighted.

Let’s keep it simple. If you have a logo or other branding element that you want to protect, you need a trademark. If you have an original creative work that you want to copyright, you need a copyright. 

Hopefully this article has helped clear up the differences between trademarks and copyrights. If you have any further questions, get more information about The Wright Firm, PLLC’s general counsel options.