Copyright Definition

Anyone working in a creative industry will be fully aware of the pernicious extent of the crime of copyright infringement. Anyone who has been victim to such activities as plagiarism will know that it is a crime that affects the victim in a way not dissimilar to being burgled. Creative workers often put a lot of their emotion into making their work as enjoyable for the reader, viewer or listener as they possibly can, and to see someone else get credit for something into which you have put blood, sweat and tears is as galling as you can possibly imagine. It is worth taking every step possible to protect your work in such cases.

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If you have ever created something from nothing you are a true artist. And you are most likely familiar with the feeling of contented satisfaction. Mix that with the excitement of being a powerful creator, and you may feel like this is your destiny. Whether it is a child, an oil painting or a novel it is as if you are presenting a little bit of you to the world. The same feeling applies if you have created your own website. Particularly, if you have introduced an absolutely unique and patented product on this website. The web is such a wonderful window to the world. Reaching millions upon millions of people, what could be a better place to show off your “baby”? Hold on, though. Before you get too excited, I urge you to take some very important precautions. If you were taking your baby home from the hospital, would you make sure that some details are in place first? Of course, you would! You probably would get yourself a crib, some disposable diapers, formula, a car seat, etc. Well, you should have an appropriate safety checklist for your website, as well. You will need certain details taken care of to protect your site from the greedy, unseen predators that stalk around cyberspace. If you don’t you could wind up losing what you spent so much time and money to build. How do I know? Because it recently happened to me. So before you do anything else, stop, and read this very carefully. I am here to give you a heads up when it comes to protecting your website. I manufacture and distribute an electronic fireflies product with my partner, Mark. Since 2003 we have sold this cool gadget as “a certain name”. In 2004 another website popped up selling their version of the electronic firefly-their fireflies are stagnant lights that only blink, and do not move (like Christmas Lights on their last legs). For their uninspired product, they selected a url that was similar to the one that we were using at the time. This was fine with us, we just looked at it as healthy competition. And we felt that our product was uniquely different (our fireflies actually moved), so we would always have a healthy flow of customers. So what does our competition do? 5 years later (in January 2008) this business trademarks the exact name that were using to sell our product. They proceed to hire a lawyer, and file a claim to have our website transferred to them. This unscrupulous business was not content with their current profitable situation, they wanted more. And they were determined to take it. Not once did they try to contact us in the 5 years we have been online. The only communication they initiated to us was to inform us that they were planning on stealing our website. We filed the response ourselves (lawyers cost too much!) to the National Arbitration Forum, confident with our overwhelming evidence. This was probably not wise, since their lawyer was obviously much more schooled in the domain registry law lingo. This was our second mistake. Our first mistake was not having our name trademarked from the get-go. We were naive to think that there were such unethical predators slinking around. We lost our PR 4 website and now our customers are left not knowing where to find us. Despite all that, we have bounced back under a new name…and yes, it is trademarked. Do not let this happen to you. Keep in mind that Mark and I had our original website protected under copyright laws since 2003. We clearly used the name that our competitors wound up stealing from us; this is why we did not think we needed a lawyer. Copyright laws clearly state, material that is marked as copyrighted is protected. Under these federal laws, the descriptive works (whether is fireflies or socks) is yours, and no one has the right to take that from you. This is why we did not hire a lawyer…clearly we would win. Well, we did not. Apparently a trademark trumps a copyright, even if it is implemented in an unethical way. When things like this happen, I always try to look at the bright side. I know our loyal customers will find us, and karma will take care our greedy competitors (can’t escape the law of attraction!). And I also know whomever reads this article will spread the word, and learn from our unfortunate mistakes. Be prosperous and keep safe.

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You’re a small business owner with a hot new product or service and you’re deciding what to name it. Perhaps you’ve even hired a graphic designer to create a flashy logo to go with it. You may have ruled out trademark registration as too expensive or even unnecessary because you only plan to sell in your local area. This article will show why nearly every business can benefit from trademark protection, and how a new option makes professional trademark assistance affordable for most small businesses and entrepreneurs. There are two excellent reasons to protect a trademark as soon as possible, even for small businesses that operate in a limited area. The first is that a professionally prepared trademark conflict search will help you identify existing trademarks to avoid infringement. Discovering a conflict ahead of your launch will allow you to change names before investing in promotional materials and advertising, and building recognition of a name you may have to change later. The last thing your new business or project needs is a lawsuit during the startup stage. On the plus side, discovering a conflict may offer an opportunity to create a new name that distinguishes you from existing ?brands? and projects your unique value proposition. Speaking of branding opportunities, the second reason to protect your trademark even if you operate in a limited area is to prepare for nationwide expansion of your business. With the shift toward online marketing and commerce, even the smallest businesses are finding larger markets to expand into. Also, registering the mark with the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office gives public notice of your trademark rights, protects the mark nationwide, and discourages infringement with heavier penalties. Now that we know it’s important to protect trademarks, let’s examine a new option for professional trademark assistance at significant savings over the traditional law firm fees. A new breed of firms called Trademark Service Providers specialize in trademark research and related services, offering them to small businesses and entrepreneurs without the typical legal fees. While they do not represent clients in court or provide legal advice, they can perform the specialized research necessary to check for conflicts. Some firms also prepare trademark applications and provide ongoing infringement searches. A few providers even offer creative naming services to help clients with the naming process. In order to appreciate the benefits of using these new services, let’s continue with the scenario from earlier. You have selected a name and you are weighing your trademark options. You may have read an article on trademarks that suggested you conduct a ?free? online trademark search. Let’s briefly examine online conflict searches. Two of the most popular free trademark searches are the online records of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov), and a simple name search using Internet search engines. Unfortunately, these searches can be misleading to those who are new to the subject of trademarks. As we will examine below, these searches are only the first stage of an effective search process. They may uncover obvious conflicts, but as you will see below, they do not reliably answer the question of trademark availability. The same can be said for State trademark registrations and searches. In fact, only a fraction of the trademarks in use are registered with the State and Federal agencies. The remaining marks are unregistered, often referred to as ?common law? trademarks. Common law trademarks are unregistered marks used in business or commerce that receive limited legal protection based on the geographical area where they are used. The absence of a centralized registry documenting these marks complicates the process of conducting a conflict and availability search. Locating common law marks requires an experienced researcher using the latest and most extensive sources, searching literally millions of relevant business and legal records. This is where a Trademark Service Provider can help. A Trademark Service Provider has access to proprietary search resources with the most current and extensive information, advanced search technology, and the expertise necessary to conduct a diligent and comprehensive conflict search. Due to the existence of common law trademarks, no search results are 100% conclusive. However, the best strategy is to obtain the most thorough search and then begin using and protecting a mark as soon as possible. If you plan to use a particular trademark but your business has not opened yet, you can file an ?intent to use? application to protect it for six months during the development stage. For an additional fee you can extend this period up to two years if necessary. Trademark Service Providers are part of a growing trend of out-sourced expertise designed for small businesses. In contrast to the more expensive ?one size fits all? approach used by big national firms, or the risky alternative of going it alone, a firm that specializes in serving small business owners can be the perfect solution. They offer reasonably priced yet professional-grade services, a capable staff that supports your vision, and the expertise that allows you return to your primary goal of building your dream business. Before you know it, your small business will be creating a Big Name reputation, with the confidence that your trademarks are protected.

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