Start Using Your Trademark™
The first step in filing for a trade mark, indicated with the letters TM: ™ is to stake your claim in the ground and start using it. Coin your phrase, create your unique trade name and put the letters TM after it raised to the power, i.e., ™. For example, if I wanted to trademark the phrase, “Artists Café“, the first thing I would do is post Artists Café™ every where on my website, in my printed material, on my advertising, and on my business cards and brochures. The first step is to start publicly using it.
Conduct a Trademark™ Search
The next thing you need to do is research your trademark™. Go to the US Patent and Trademark Office website, www.uspto.gov, and find their TESS database. Search that database for phrases, which resemble your trademark™. If nothing comes up, that’s good. Next, surf the web for your trademark. Start with the obvious, add a .com, .biz, or any other extension to is and see if there is a website after that name or phrase. Then, just Google your trademark phrase. Take special note to see if any of those results has either the ™ symbol or the ® symbol.
File the Trademark
If you haven’t found anything or any one competing your trademark, then it’s worth it to make the investment in filing for the registered trademark®. There are a couple ways you can go. One is to file directly with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). However, it’s an incredibly bureaucratic office and if you don’t know what the hell you are doing, you are going to waste a lot of time and money and go away very frustrated. I strongly recommend using somebody who knows what they are doing.
Trademark Attorney Recommendations
- Visit LegalZoom.com, for about $375, they can collect and submit the information you need to the US PTO
- Contact Bert Vermeulen of Corp21 in Boulder, Colorado - sometimes in New Mexico. He’s not an attorney but knows what he is doing.
- Google, “Patent and Trademark Attorney” in your city or state
Patent and Trademark Books
- Patent It Yourself by David Pressman
- Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights for Dummies
- Trademark: Legal Care for your Business and Product Name
What’s the Difference Between a ® and a ™ ?
Well, a registered trademark, ®, has been registered and approved with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Whereas, a ™ is a placeholder, a stake in the ground, kind of like “Patent Pending” to indicate that you are planning to file or are in the process of filing for what you ultimately want, a registered trademark®.
Copyright Law
In general, you should visit the U.S. Copyright Office website in conjunction with the Library of Congress to learn more about US Copyright Law.
What is a copyright?
A Copyright© protects the original work of an author or artist from theft of their creative or intellectual property. It is protected by US Copyright Law enacted in 1976 making it illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights of that copyright owner. The copyright immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work at the moment of creation. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright. However, in the case of work made for hire, the employer and not the employee is considered to be the author.
How do I copyright a Photo?
No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created. However, publication of the copyright notice helps to enforce your copyright. The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain all the following three elements:
- The symbol © (the letter C in a circle), or the word “Copyright.”
- The year of first publication of the work.
- The name of the owner of copyright in the work
Example: © 2008 John Doe
How do I copyright a screenplay?
You can electronically submit your screenplay to the Library of Congress at the U.S. Copyright Office website and save money. Normally, the basic registration fee is $45. However, if you submit it electronically, it is only $10. To manually register a work, send the following three elements in the same envelope or package to:
Library of Congress
Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20559-6000
- A properly completed application form
- A nonrefundable filing fee for each application
- A nonreturnable copy of the work being registered
