Writing: Copyrights and Trademarks Protect You
When most people think of writing a book, they don’t think
about Trademarks. However, I strongly recommend that you
leverage your writing for multiple purposes, and that’s why
Registering a Trademark for your concept is a good idea. Yew
uses his writing as a basis for workshops and other
products, it is in your best interest to protect your
Concepts with Registered Trademark.
Paraphrasing the definition of a brand given in the
official website http://www.uspto.gov, a trademark is a symbol, a
word, phrase, or design (or any combination), used to
identify and distinguish the sole source of goods. Note
that a service mark has the same definition as a trademark,
except in relation to services instead of products.
You are not required to register a Trademark. Instead, you can
establish your rights to the Mark with a registration of
legitimate use of it. However, there are several
Advantages of owning a federally registered trademark.
Most notable is your top position if someone else
you should try to use your brand after your official
Registration date.
Regardless of whether you have submitted an application to the
USPTO for a Federally Registered Trademark, you may use the TM
and SM symbols whenever you claim trademark rights. However the
federal symbol for registration (circled “R”), you can only
be used after the USPTO has received your application,
processed it and officially registered its Trademark. one more
thing to note: the federal registration symbol can only be
used in connection with the goods or services that are
specifically listed in federal documents.
Of course, there is a difference between the purposes of
Trademarks, copyrights and patents. Patents protect a
inventions Copyright protects literary works or
artistic work.
Your work is copyrighted under common law when you
create it And when printing the work with the copyright
notice included, you have communicated your claim to the
to work. However, for it to be officially registered, you will need to
you want to register it with the Copyright Office. keep in mind
that the government does not enforce copyright. Yew
someone were to infringe, it would be up to you to protect
your rights through a civil lawsuit.
Contact the Copyright Office to obtain the forms. Call 202-
707-3000 and request the 109 copyright packet, or go to
website, http://www.loc.gov/copyright and complete the TX form. A
register your copyright to a book, follow these steps: 1)
Print the copyright notice on the copyright page (title
page). You can use the word copyright, but “C” in a circle
says the same and is necessary for international
protection. Also, add “All Rights Reserved.” The news
it must appear on all copies of the book to protect it. Tea
Copyright must be in the owner’s name. 2) Post
the book. 3) Register your claim at the Copyright Office
within three months of the publication of the book.
The new term of copyright is for the life of the author, plus
fifty years Since your property is part of your estate,
Mention it in your will. Everything is protected by
copyright (text, graphics, etc.), except titles. Titles
may not be copyrighted. However, does the title fit the
definition of a trademark? If so, can you claim that
road. An example: “Chicken soup for the soul” is a registered trademark
because it can’t be copyrighted. Actually, no one would use
that title by his own creation, but if it weren’t
Registered trademark, anyone could legally benefit from the use of the
phrase to market other products.
Cover all your bases and use whatever means are available to
protect your creation. By registering your copyright and
your rights in a Trademark, the guarantees are prepared if
someone tried to use your work as their own.