What is the difference between a copyright and a trademark? Copyrights and trademarks both offer formal legal protections for intellectual properties, but they don't protect the same things.
Copyrights and trademarks protect different types of creations.
A copyright protects the way you express certain ideas; your creative content, so to speak. A trademark protects a specific name, slogan or logo associated with products or services that you're selling. A trademark is a marketing tool, essentially, while a copyright would protect your actual content.
Trademark and copyright registration work differently.
With a copyright, you're basically protected from the moment you create your copyright-protected work. Formal registration guarantees you legal rights in court, but is not required to establish copyright protection; you get that protection from the moment you create the content.
A trademark is a formal recognition of a mark that you intend to use or already use to promote a product or service. You don't have trademark protection until you register your trademark, so registering a trademark is much more important than registering a copyright for the purpose of obtaining protection.
Different offices govern copyrights and trademarks.
Trademarks fall under the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO. Copyrights fall under the United States Copyright Office. Because copyrights and trademarks are entirely different things, they're governed by different offices and even different sections of law. However, both copyrights and trademarks fall under the category of intellectual property, and an intellectual property lawyer may be able to advise you about both copyright and trademark law and registration.
Copyrights and trademarks work similarly in some ways.
Copyrights protect the expression you use to convey an idea; not the idea or content itself. A copyright protects the specific manner in which you write or express an idea, but someone else can express the same thought or idea in a different way and not be in violation of copyright.
A trademark functions similarly in that it protects your specific name, slogan or logo associated with goods or services. Someone else can use different trademarked names, slogans or logos to market similar goods or services. These protections cover only the exact specifics in your scenarios; they don't prevent other people from marketing similar goods or conveying the same idea in a different manner.
You may be able to trademark something you can't copyright.
Copyrights preclude short phrases, names or symbols, whereas trademarks deal almost exclusively with this content. You may not be able to copyright something that you can trademark. If you're using names, phrases or symbols for marketing purposes, or to identify your goods and services and differentiate them from someone else's goods and services, you may be eligible for trademark protection.
However, trademark law is quite specific, and you can't trademark a phrase, for example, just because it's witty and clever; you can get trademark protection for such a phrase only if it's used to identify your products or services.
 | What is a trademark? It's that mystical symbol that tells you a name, slogan or logo is protected, but it's also so much more than that. |
 | How long does a trademark last? Trademark duration depends, in part, on whether you file the right paperwork at the right time. Do you know how to keep your trademark alive? |
 | Learning how to trademark something is fairly easy, although the process itself is time-consuming and particular. Do you need to trademark a name, slogan or logo? Here's how. |
Learn how to register a trademark so you can protect the brand identity of your small business. |
This article contains valuable information about Trademarking and how to obtain more information. It also deals deeply with the common law trademark by explaining its need in order to create profit in business. |
