What Is the Difference Between Trademark and Copyright?

When considering protections to your intellectual property, you may wonder how best to proceed: trademark or copyright? Or both? What’s the difference? And how should you go about obtaining the protection for your business assets?

For starters, a trademark and copyright are different. You may find yourself considering both at different phases of your business. The more important consideration is the trademark as it’s the one that is imperative to file for protection. It also acts as a unique identifier or brand for your business and, as such, it may be the foundation on which your business is built.

Trademark vs. Copyright

A trademark protects a word, phrase, or design that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes those goods and services from those of your competitors, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Think about the name Coca-Cola as the brand name for soft drinks or the swoosh as the logo for Nike’s athletic brand.

A copyright applies to artistic, literary, or intellectually created works, like movies, photos, paintings, music, and books. It must be something tangible that people can experience, read, see, hear, or touch. Think song lyrics to “Rolling in the Deep,” by Adele.

Trademarks prevent consumer confusion and protect your business name, saying, or logo from being used by others to sell goods or services. A copyright protects your right to exclusively reproduce, distribute, and perform or display the creative expression and prevents others from exploiting it. You’d want to trademark your business name brand and copyright your software code, for example.

How to Apply for a Trademark and a Copyright

You do not have to apply for a copyright. You have rights in the work at the moment you create something in a tangible form. You can, however, register your tangible creative expression for $15 through the U.S. Copyright Office at copyright.gov. You do not need to register your copyright to be protected; copyright law is automatic and immediate. However, it does not hurt to stake claim to your intellectual property. It’s probably not worth registering every one of your blog posts, for example, but perhaps you should register the graphics for your business website or the movie script that you wrote. If you’ll need to enforce copyright ownership through litigation, registration will be necessary.

You do need to apply for a trademark to have federal trademark protection. For a federally protected trademark, you must apply through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). States have common law trademark policies, but these protect you only in the state in which you’re operating. For a successful registration, you must be able to provide examples of how you’re using the mark in connection with sales of goods or services: You are required to show how the trademark is being used on your website, in marketing materials, or in other creative assets, and you must show continued use every 10 years.

Trademark and Copyright Symbols

While it’s not imperative to use a copyright or trademark symbol when publishing your creative expression or mark, it will call attention to your intention to protect the asset. Here’s a guide to the different types of symbols that protect intellectual property.

What Trademarking Protects You Against Compared With Copyrighting

Once you own a trademark, you are free to use it in conjunction with selling your products and services. This is beneficial because it’s the beginning of building a unique brand in your category. As a trademark owner, you can file a lawsuit if you believe your trademark has been used without authorization. If you’re able to prove infringement in court, you may be able to get a court order for the defendant to stop using the mark and even receive monetary relief for the defendant exploiting the mark. The basis for making a case is the likelihood of confusion among consumers due to the degree of similarity of the registered trademark.

Copyrighting protects your work in other ways. U.S. copyright law allows owners to have the following exclusive rights:

There are different reasons to leverage trademarking and copyrighting when starting a business to protect your intellectual property. Determining which creative assets and unique identifiers fit the criteria and how you should proceed will help ensure no one else can capitalize on your commercially viable ideas.