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TRADEMARKS

A trademark is any word (Poison), name (Giorgio Armani), symbol or device (the Pillsbury Doughboy), slogan (Got Milk?), package design (Coca-Cola bottle) or combination of these that serves to identify and distinguishes a specific product from others in the market place or in trade. Even a sound (NBC chimes) color combination, smell or hologram can be a trademark under some circumstances. The term trademark is often used interchangeably to identify a trademark or service mark.

Copyrights

A Copyright (©) protects the original way an idea is expressed, not the idea itself. It includes artistic, literary, dramatic or musical works presented in a tangible medium such as a book, photograph or movie. This protection is given to works to prevent unauthorized copying. The general rule for a work created on or after 1-1-78, is that the copyright lasts for the author's lifetime plus 70 years after the author's death, or 95 years after publication for a work made for hire.

Patent

A Patent protects a new and useful idea, which includes a process and/or machine. It is granted by the Federal government, providing an inventor with exclusive rights to make, use and sell a patented invention. Patents have a fixed term, usually 17 to 20 years.

Frequently Asked Intellectual Property Questions:

What is Intellectual Property?
WHAT IS A TRADEMARK?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TRADEMARK, A COPYRIGHT AND A PATENT?
WHAT IS A SERVICE MARK?
WHAT IS A GENERIC TERM?
WHAT DO THE SYMBOLS ®, TM, AND SM MEAN
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TRADE NAME AND A TRADEMARK?
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRADEMARKS?
WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?

What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.

Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs. (From WIPO, World Intellectual Property Organization)

WHAT IS A TRADEMARK?

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TRADEMARK, A COPYRIGHT AND A PATENT?

They all are generally described as intellectual property or intangible property because they are property rights that cannot be touched or felt like personal property (car) or real property (land). However, the terms have different meanings and define different things.

A Trademark (®, ™, SM) protects a word, phrase, symbol and/or design used with a product or service on the market. A trademark is often referred to as a brand. Trademark rights may continue indefinitely, as long as the mark is neither abandoned by the trademark owner, nor loses its significance in the marketplace as a trademark by becoming a generic term. For a full definition please see FAQ Definition #1.

WHAT IS A SERVICE MARK?

A service mark (Harrods) is similar to a trademark, but it is used in the sale or advertising of services to identify and distinguish the services of one company from those of others.

WHAT IS A GENERIC TERM?

A generic term is a word or phrase that is or has come to be the common term associated with or known as a particular category of goods or services to which it relates, thereby ceasing to function as an indicator of origin. For example, “clock” is a generic term for timepieces. Generic designations are not registrable or protectable. A trademark may potentially become generic if it becomes so widely known and used with a particular category of goods or services as to designate the category of goods or services. In such instances, the "mark" will not be registrable and a previous registration for such a "mark" may be subject to cancellation by a third party. Examples of marks that have become generic over time include “escalator,” “linoleum,” “zipper” and “yo-yo.” This loss of trademark status is sometimes referred to as “genericide.” It should be noted that what is generic in one country may not necessarily be generic in another, for example, the designation ASPIRIN is generic in the U.S. but is not in other countries.

WHAT DO THE SYMBOLS ®, TM, AND SM MEAN?

A ™ is usually used to indicate an unregistered trademark. It is an informal notification that there is a public claim as a trademark.

An SM represents an unregistered service mark. It is also an informal notification that there is a public claim as a service mark.

The ® (commonly pronounced R-in-a-circle or Circle-R) is a warning notice to advice the public that the mark is federally registered and their use provides legal benefits. This notice can be used only with registered marks. Use of a ® with any unregistered trademark may result in claims of fraud. Several other countries also use the ® symbol to indicate that a trademark or service mark is registered in their respective systems.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TRADE NAME AND A TRADEMARK?

A trade name is used to identify a company or a business and serves as the name of the company or a business. In contrast, a trademark or service mark is used to identify the source of the products or services that the company or business sells or provides. However, a trade name can also function as a trademark or service mark depending upon the context in which it is used. If a trade name is used as more than just the company name and informs consumers where a product or service is coming from, then it is being used as a trademark or service mark. For example, if the name is used as a noun, ("You can get your traveler's checks from American Express"), it is a trade name; if used as an adjective, ("You can get your American Express traveler's checks here"), it is a trademark.

WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?

INTA (International Trademark Association WWW.INTA.ORG
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) WWW.WIPO.ORG

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRADEMARK?

2 TRADEMARKS

3 Copyrights

4 Patents

5 What is protected by copyright.

What does copyright protect?
Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed

WHAT WORKS ARE PROTECTED?

Copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
1. literary works;
2. musical works, including any accompanying words
3. dramatic works, including any accompanying music
4. pantomimes and choreographic works
5. pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
6. motion pictures and other audiovisual works
7. sound recordings
architectural works

WHAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT?

Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others:

• Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)

• Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents

• Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration

• Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)