Obtaining Copyrights, etc

[shhhli]

i know this thread is a bit old, but correct me if i am wrong, the ® is like.. When my employer sells say a shirt that says Auburn University they put that symbol to mean that royalties have been paid to use that trademark.

to purchase the ® would be kinda.. well.. i dont think it would be possible for you to use it. unless you just really want to tell everyone that you've paid yourself the royalties to use your own brand. ^^

[ladywhipple02]

The (r) just means that the mark has been registered with the government.

[lord jackel]

I deal with this at work all the time and it is very complex but here is a simple overview


Copyright = ownership of original works (these can be writings, photos, artwork, etc.) You can simply put a (c) by your work and note you own it and for the most part it will suffice but it will take more proof if you decide to sue someone over using it. You can also register the work (C) in which case it is recorded that you did indeed create it - makes it easier to sue someone

TradeMark (TM) - is an unregistered logo or "mark" that distinguishes your logo or company from others. This is a simple note that says you have created this mark to represent your business. To protect it you must register it (R)

Registered TradeMark - is a legal government registration that says you own the rights to use the mark in certain industries. For example "rca" is not a trademark but "RCA" with the red or black block letters (like you see on TV's) is.

Most companies will register their main name and trademark any additional names (for example Sony (R) Viao(TM) ) this is a cheap way of getting around having to register every mark you use.

Trademarks registered or not are only as good as to how willing you are to protect it. If you don't go after every single person/business that uses it without your permission then your claim to it will be lost.

As for words of the business name in most cases there is no way to protect them (unless you created the word) your best bet to protect the name is to register the domain (and have a website that supports it). Most people won't want to steal your name unless they can profit from it by having a website so just beat them to it.