


What is a copyright?Ī copyright is a collection of exclusive rights automatically vested to you once you have created an original work. A good example of this is with the American Airlines logo which has a registered copyright and trademark. There is occasionally an overlap between trademark and copyright law, for instance, when a graphic illustration is used as a logo, the design may be protected both under copyright and trademark. (The term “trademark” is often used in a general sense to refer to both trademarks and service marks.) Similar to copyright, a person does not need to register a trademark or service mark for the mark to be protected, but there are certain legal benefits to registering the mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Examples include brand names, slogans, and logos.

A service mark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than goods. What is a trademark?Īccording to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. For this blog, we will be focusing on the differences between copyright and trademarks. People often confuse them, but not to worry - we are here to break down the differences for you. Each one protects very different types of things. There are other forms, like trademarks, patents and trade secrets. Copyright is only one form of intellectual property (IP). Other than their Video Music Awards (VMAs) history, and that they are both musicians, they both have registered trademarks on their names.Ī trademark? But don’t you mean a copyright? Nope! A name (brand name, band name) cannot be protected by copyright. Pop Quiz! What do Taylor Swift and Kanye West have in common?
