Help an idiot with copyrights and trademarks

The first thing you should do is understand the difference between copyright and trademark. Both are forms of protection for intellectual property. One covers a company brand/image (defined by a logo and name) and the other covers any intellectual property that you actually make like pictures or videos

Trademarks have to be formally registered with the United States Patent Trademark Office. It's a fucking slow process and probably costs around $600 if you do it through LegalZoom - but it's necessary if you actually have a good idea. Like I said, a trademark is used to identify or define your company brand.

Copyright does NOT have to be formally registered. According to the law, any work you create is automatically copyrighted and you're allowed to say that it's your intellectual property and no one can touch it. However, if you do eventually wish to prosecute someone for infringing on your copyrighted material, you will have to register it - but you probably don't need to worry about that for now.

Intellectual property like Trademarks and Copyrights have owners. They can either be business entities like a LLC or an individual. There are no rules to how many trademarks or copyrights a particular company can own.

>>2002000

not OP, but I have related questions I'd like your input on since you seem to be knowledgeable and actually helpful

I've asked these questions in a handful of places and I always get the same answer- both yes and no, but never any real explanation for either one.

(All this is purely example off the top of head to help understand the questions)

Obviously illegal:
-Company produces a nike shoe and sells it as if its authentic licensed product. Packaging says nike, shoe has the logo, box, etc

now, what about other scenarios?
-Company produces a nike shoe that is an exact replica of a nike shoe but it doesn't actually say "nike" anywhere and never claims its officially licensed. Also would having the checkmark make a difference or no?

-Company creates a replica of a unique prop from a movie and never claims its officially licensed. Can they sell it? Can they say its a replica of the item from that movie?

>>2002000
Thanks for the clarification. I'm considering doing a legalzoom or something to get it done right.

Would I be able to use the same trademark for my entire brand? (Cafe, apparel, and music venue) or would I need to split it up and make a separate application for each separate venture? (The logo itself would be the same throughout. )

Also, say there's a company with the same trademark thats centered around brewing alcohol, would that prevent me from starting one that sells coffee? Even if our logo is nothing alike?

>>2002278
im fairly certain tradmarking your brand/company can be as narrow or broad in what it offers as you like

The problem is you typically create a brand name when you're trying to create and maintain a presence in a particular market. By blanketing various niches completely unrelated to each other you spread yourself too thin as any efforts to increase interest in niche A has no effect on niche B for you.

>>2002249
No idea man. That is something I have always wondered myself. Back in 2013 or so, I used to import knock-off Android Galaxy S2s and shit. I wasn't scamming people...people knew that it was just a generic Android version of the S2 but they looked identical minus the Samsung logo and brand on the back. Customs seized the entire shipment one day so I am going to assume it's illegal. It could also fall under design patents. The thing about trademark law is it really boils down to consumer confusion. If it's too similar to a particular brand and is likely to cause confusion among consumers, they can go after you for it. And even if it was technically legal, these bigger companies would bully you into oblivion through legal fees so it's kind of a lost cause. Same thing happened with lifeproof cases back in the day.

>>2002278
I am not sure. I would look at how other big companies do it. I looked up Skrillex on the USPTO website and he has four different trademark registrations covering each aspect of his business (one for apparel, one for music venues, one for posters, one for his music, etc..)

Anyways, I am not an expert. This is just what I learned from registering a trademark myself. I would recommend consulting a Trademark attorney and make sure you get it done right. I use New England Patent and Trademark. He might not be local to you but you can conduct your business with him entirely electronically so it doesn't make a difference. Super helpful guy with an emphasis on small business and is affordable. I think he charges like $175/hr or something which may sound like a lot (my other attorney charges $350/h kek and bills every 6 mins) but you can get a LOT of information and advice squeezed into a 20-30 minute phone call.

>>2002278
You would use groups to get the same trademark to be valid for several types of products. There is probably a premium cost here. Take a look at this example for Moto Guzzi, that cover not only motorcycles, but also handbags and clothing etc etc
http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4807:n23xul.2.1http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4807:n23xul.2.1

I would not do this through Legalzoom. You need somebody with some expertise, or spend some weeks reading about it, before you apply. You do not want to get it wrong. I believe the USPTO fee is an application fee, not a fee for a successful application.

Also, you need to do both Wordmark registration (the name) as well as design mark (the logo).

TL;DR Lawyer up or mess up.

>>2001945

OP, a wise guy once answered to the "do I have to register a trademark?" question with the following:

"Can you afford to out-litigate Microsoft?"