{"id":23065,"date":"2017-01-30T11:08:56","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T17:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.crowdspring.com\/?p=23065"},"modified":"2023-10-06T19:29:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T00:29:23","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-about-small-business-trademarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/what-you-need-to-know-about-small-business-trademarks\/","title":{"rendered":"What Small Businesses Need to Know About Trademarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

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What is a trademark?<\/h2>
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A trademark is a word, phrase, or logo that identifies the source of goods or services and differentiates the goods made or sold by a company from those made or sold by another company. <\/span><\/p>\n

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From the moment you start a business<\/a>, you should be diligent in protecting your brand.<\/p>\n

Crucial brand elements like your company’s name, logo<\/a>,\u00a0and tagline<\/a> should be protected so that no other company can enter the market and use your identity to sell their product or service.<\/p>\n

One of the earliest steps you can take to protect your brand is to register your trademark.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d prefer to watch a video about trademarks, your business, and how you can avoid violating trademark law, we\u2019ve created a video version of this article: Five Tips on Leveraging Trademarks to Protect Your Business<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are the basics of trademark law and 5 tips for leveraging trademarks in your business:<\/h2>\n

Trademark law protects a business\u2019s brand identity<\/a> and brand by discouraging others from operating under business names<\/a>\u00a0or using logos that are likely to be mistaken for the name of an existing trademark.<\/p>\n

A service mark is similar to a trademark – but it’s used to distinguish the services of one provider from services provided by others (and to indicate the source of the services).<\/p>\n

What’s the difference between copyright and trademark law?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Copyright and trademark law both protect intellectual property – but they protect different things.<\/p>\n

Copyright protects works such as poetry, movies, writing, music, video games, videos, plays, paintings, sheet music, recorded music performances, novels, software code, sculptures, photographs, choreography, and architectural designs.<\/p>\n

Trademarks are names, logos, sounds, shapes, colors, and even smells that distinguish the source of goods or services of one party from those of another party.<\/p>\n

Example: A computer software program may be copyrighted. The name of the software can be trademarked.<\/p>\n

If a trade name or logo is protected by copyright law, is it automatically protected by trademark law?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

No. A trade name or logo design might be protected by copyright law but is not protected by trademark law unless it is actually used in commerce.<\/p>\n

This is because trademark rights arise only through commerce (such as when you offer items for sale and use the trade name or logo in your marketing materials or on the products).<\/p>\n

Want a free brand review?<\/div>
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