
How do I copyright my company name?Hi Dave, I am looking to get started with my own business, and was wondering what steps would be best for getting our name copyrighted with the U.S. Copyright Office. What advice do you have? I think you misunderstand the purpose of copyright law, actually (though, to be honest, I'm certainly not a copyright or intellectual property lawyer, so take my comment here with a grain or two of salt). The Copyright Office explains: "Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed." And they also offer this: "How do I copyright a name, title, slogan or logo? -- Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks. Contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, for further information." So let's flip over to the Patent & Trademark Office to see what they have to say about company names... Actually, before we do, in case you don't think that the Copyright Office staff have a sense of humor, one of the questions on their FAQ is "How do I protect my sighting of Elvis?" I kid you not! According to the USPTO (U.S. Patent & Trademark Office): "A trademark includes 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." I'd recommend that you apply for a trademark for your company name, based on all this information. Conveniently, you can fill out an application online and file it over the Internet using their Trademark Electronic Application System. You can also respond to any queries or actions from the USPTO, and file change of address notices and many other documents through TEAS. Finally, the Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval database lets you dig through registered trademarks, applications, and check on the status of your own application too. I hope that helps you get started traveling in the right direction!
Help others find this article at Del.icio.us, Digg, Netscape, Reddit, and Simpy.
Categorized:
Business and Management
(Article 4080)
Tagged: Previous: What questions can I be legally asked at a job interview? Next: Changing Default Save-As Image Type in Windows? Subscribe!
Never miss another useful Q&A article again! Subscribe to AskDaveTaylor with Google Reader. this site is very helpful. Posted by: arron at June 17, 2006 2:23 PMWHEN I WAS IN A CHATROOM, THIS GUY GAVE ME A THING TO TYPE IN AND IT COPYRIGHTED MY NAME MOMMA...HOW DO I GET THAT BACK...I LOST IT WHEN MY MSN CRASHED.IT WAS FREE WHEN I DID IT, THOUGH. CAN YOU HELP ME? What is the differents between SM and Trademark. me and some friends started a book club and we wanted to know the name we chose has been used and if not how to we copyright it. Posted by: chiquita lee at April 23, 2007 5:15 PMi want to start a clothing line do i need to trade mark my name or get it branded do branded and trade make mean the same thing Posted by: cythia at November 30, 2007 11:45 AMI have a lot to say, but ...
I do have a comment, now that you mention it!
|
Search
Find just the answers you seek from among our 1700+ free tech support articles by using our Lijit search engine.
Help!
Subscribe to
Ask Dave Taylor!
Free Updates!
Sign up and get free weekly updates and special offers on books, seminars, workshops and more.
Articles and Reviews
Auctions and Online Shopping Blogs and RSS Feeds Building Web site traffic Business and Management Cell Phones and Mobile Phones CGI Scripts and Web Site Programming Computer and Internet Basics d) None of the Above HTML and CSS Mac OS X Help MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Social Network Help Pay Per Click (PPC) Search Engine Optimization Shell Script Programming Sony PSP, MP3 Players, Etc. The Writing Business Unix and Linux Help Video Game Tips and Help Windows Help
Recent Entries
Join the List!
Book Links
|