Trademarks are designed to protect the unique elements that identify your brand or goods. However, other people cannot copy, distribute or use your work without your permission. You can also sell or assign copyright to others. You are free to allow others to use your work, to determine how that work is used, and have the right to be identified as the creator of the work. Copyright vs trademarks: what they protectĬopyright is designed to protect your intellectual property from being used without your permission. Once you a registered trademark has been granted, you can legally prevent others from using or copying your trademark. Your trademark must be unique and during the registration process you can use the symbol TM after the item you wish to trademark and the symbol ® when the trademark has been registered. In the UK, you must apply to the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) to register a trademark, and the process should take around four months if there are no objections. In contrast, trademarks must be registered to have protection. It’s a good idea to add a copyright symbol (©) to any creative work you produce as it makes it easier to take legal action should someone use that work without permission. You don’t need to register for copyright protection and all the rights offered by copyright protection apply straightaway. Copyright vs trademarks: How work is protectedĬopyright is an automatic right that is assigned to you or your business as soon as an original piece of work is created. There are four key differences between trademark and copyright. Copyright protection is automatic in all countries signed up to the Berne Convention, but different countries have different levels of protection and enforcement. Just because you have protection in UK doesn’t mean you have protection internationally. Trademarks protect elements such as a brand name, slogan and logo.īoth copyright and trademark rights are territorial. It is designed to protect anything that identifies the goods, services and brand of a business. What is a trademark? A trademark is more specific than copyright. Copyright can be sold or assigned to others, and usually work created by employees is owned by the business. Importantly copyright covers the expression of an idea, rather than the idea itself. It covers all unique creative work such as graphic designs, video, software, content, photography and film and audio recordings. What is copyright? Copyright determines the rights people have over the original work they create. They also offer different levels of protection. They are used to protect different types of assets and they work in different ways. Trademarks and copyright both exist to protect your intellectual property. What’s the difference between a trademark and copyright? For example, a competitor may steal or copy your IP, such as creating a similar logo that confused customers to the extent that your business loses sales. Not protecting your IP can see your business lose out financially. It’s important to protect your intellectual property as it has value and can be sold, licensed and even used as security for investments. Intellectual property is the same regardless of the difference between trademark and copyright approaches to how IP itself is protected. While it doesn’t have a physical form, IP covers everything from inventions and prototypes that could be turned into marketable goods and services, through to your brand such as logos and marketing materials. Intellectual property (IP) is anything your business creates using your intellect. From logos and signage to marketing slogans and packaging designs, keeping your intellectual property secure means it’s important to understand the difference between trademark and copyright protection. Protecting your business assets is vital, and trademark and copyright play essential roles in securing the intellectual property your business creates.
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