Trademark vs Copyright – Know the difference

Understand the basic difference between Trademark and Copyright to protect your work and knowledge.

ST LOUIS, MO (StLouisWeb.Design) First of all, we want to disclose that we are not attorneys and are making no attempts to represent ourselves as such.

We offer general business advice to help protect our customers with accounting, tax, payroll, and legal matters.  We frequently see customers sacrificing profits to companies that violate inappropriate business strategies to profit themselves at our clients’ expense.

Two important business legal strategies that are important to understand are Trademark and Copyright:

  1. Trademark is a registration process that gives you exclusive rights to a slogan, symbol, or name that brands your business or name. It will stop people who copy, helping protect your brand, making it easier to sue those that seal your mark or brand.  You can easily apply for Trademark through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  The fee is approximately $250, with other services available that might increase that fee.
  2. Copyright protects intellectual property such as a book, article, song, photo, art, and possibly more. If you created the work, keep it safe and protect it by registering a copyright.  You can easily apply for a Copyright at the U.S. Copyright Office.  The cost to file a Copyright is approximately $65, with other services available that might increase that fee.

For more information, please use the links within this post or seek the advice of an attorney.

Additional References:

  1. Wikipedia – Trademark
  2. Wikipedia – Copyright