Joseph Fedorowsky – Legal Blog

Let’s start with an official definition from the the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A trademark is “any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name.”

As a subset within the world of intellectual property rights, a trademark is essentially concerned with branding and identity. Accordingly, the purpose behind a trademark from a judicial point of view is to protect consumers from becoming confused over the source of goods or services within competitive markets. Buyers want consistent quality, and trademarks help facilitate that goal.

Federal trademark protection is not automatic. There is a registration process which has a number of benefits, including legal presumption as to ownership, federal jurisdiction to bring an action in federal court and broad notice to the public.

As a federal trademark identifies the source of a product, similarly a federal service mark identifies the source of a service. Other related protections are a collective mark (used by an organization or group) and a certification mark (used to certify quality or accuracy).

Joseph Fedorowsky / Legal Blog

A copyright is a type of intellectual property right which is the basis on which your writings may be protected from use by others without your permission. You automatically have a common law copyright to original materials that you pen and publish, but there are advantages to statutory registration.

A copyright legally protects the unique expression of an author. Protection, however, does not extend to mere ideas. There are alternative ways to handle your original and unique ideas and concepts, however, most of which involve marketing dynamics and positioning.

Once you’ve got your seat belt fastened, take a look at the U.S. Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. §§ 101-810, which is Federal legislation enacted by Congress to protect an author’s intellectual property. This area of law is considered by many practitioners as one of the most complex.

Joseph Fedorowsky / Legal Blog