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!
Great share, thanks for the wonderful post…
Hi, I would like to thank you for sharing this useful information. Trademarking a company name is an initial step to legally operating a business, so this information is spot on!
Looking 2 trademark.my groups name, and once its trademarked will.u get a certain certuficate once its legit?
i wanna trazemark my name “zig” as a rapper, and my group name “mafia 51”. it might already be, but i need to make sure and trademark zig
Thanks Dave for the clarification, I could have not explained it better! ..but I am still surprised people asks the same questions in your comment section when the answer is in the text: read people READ!!
Lots of companies uses the trademark or copy right symbols without beeing rigestered for this. So if your name seems occupied and trade marked, it might not be the case…
Is there costs involved in copyrighting my company name?
gday, mate just set up a repossessions business, called call collect, just googled it to find a phone company with the same name that is copyright 09. im looking at creating a web site with a 1300 or 1800 number for easy connection for customers, is it still possible to carry on with the business name to trade mark it with a symbol of my own for the name itself???
go here http://www.directlegal.com, this will help you ppl out more.. peace
Hello i would like to copy right my clothing line name how do i got about that.
i 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
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.
What is the differents between SM and Trademark.
Is it same? Please help me out!
WHEN 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?
PAT
this site is very helpful.