Trademarks, copyrights, and patents are different ways to protect intellectual property. Trademarks protect brand elements, copyrights protect original works, and patents protect inventions.
When you start a business, its name, logo, slogan, and more are all part of the brand. When you don’t protect these elements, you risk losing your identity or creations to competitors. Trademarks, copyrights, and patents are legal tools that can help businesses safeguard their intellectual property (IP).
A LegalShield® Small Business Plan gives you access to a provider law firm that can help with your business, and with the Preferred and Premium plans, discuss intellectual property. You get affordable legal guidance, including consultations on business legal issues and help reviewing documents.
Read more about the different ways businesses protect IP, the similarities between them, and what can happen when violations occur.
Trademarks, copyrights, and patents are all ways to protect a business’s intellectual property rights. The main difference is what type of IP they protect — brand elements, creative works, or inventions.
The amount of time each lasts is another difference, and so is the cost to apply with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Businesses and individuals may need to take further steps to keep these protections active. Additionally, costs can go up based on factors such as an application's completeness and complexity.
A LegalShield Preferred or Premium Plan allows you to have limited consultations about filing for IP protections by provider lawyers. With a LegalShield Small Business Legal Plan, you pay a fraction of the typical law firm hourly rates.
A trademark can protect a business’s brand elements. They cover words, designs, and phrases. Trademarking a business name or brand is common. So is trademarking a logo. But in general, businesses can apply for a trademark for almost any symbol tied directly to their brand, including:
For example, Target has trademarked its name, bullseye logo, and the phrase “retail department store services." And Coca-Cola has registered its logo in multiple formats, as well as the shape of its bottles.
With a LegalShield Small Business Preferred or Premium Plan, you can get limited consultation from provider lawyers on ways to check if your business name is taken. You can also get a small business health check. Plan options start at around $2/day.
Trademark vs. copyright: The biggest difference is that a trademark protects brand elements, while a copyright protects original creative works. The purpose of a trademark is to prevent confusion between products and services on the market. The purpose of a copyright is to prevent someone from stealing someone else’s work.
Copyrights protect “original works” from theft, which generally include these kinds of creations:
To be able to seek a copyright, the work needs to be fixed in a tangible medium. That’s a lot of words that basically mean it must be permanently recorded in some type of physical format. For example, you can copyright a painting done on paper or canvas, but you can’t copyright the idea for a painting.
A LegalShield Provider Law Firm also offers help with other business protections, including employment and independent contractor agreements.
Patent vs. copyright: The biggest difference is that copyrights protect creative works, while patents protect functional inventions. Patents give creators the exclusive right to make, use, or sell what they invent.
A patent gives a business or a person the government-granted right to an invention. This right allows the owner or assignee to exclusively make, use, offer, or sell the patented invention. There are three types of patents:
To get a patent, an application is made to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). You’ll need to show the USPTO that your invention is new, that it works, and that it is “not-obvious,” i.e., related to something that’s already invented. In exchange for the rights, you’ll also have to disclose the details of the invention to the public.
Patent vs. trademark: The biggest difference is that patents protect inventions, while trademarks protect brand elements. For example, if your business invents a new type of plastic, you could patent the formula, but you can’t patent the name. To protect that, you’d need a trademark.
Businesses often have much more than a brand name to protect, and yours may acquire many types of IP as it grows. This may include everything from product names and label designs to photos and blog copy on your website. And questions can come up during discussions about licensing, marketing, or working with freelancers and consultants.
Using a trademark, copyright, or patent is one way to help keep your intellectual property safe. It can also help prepare your business for what's ahead.
Businesses may also need to seek IP protections when working with freelancers. Doing so can help clarify which IP belongs to the business and which might belong to the creator. This can help businesses avoid legal battles over these rights.
Getting legal guidance can help you take the proper steps to put these protections in place.
Trade secrets are valuable, confidential pieces of information that a business keeps private. Trade secrets can be inventions, but they can also be things like processes, financial information, and strategy. Trademarks and Patents are public-facing and, if filed with the USPTO, publicly available.
However, trade secrets are often part of an overall IP strategy that usually involves choosing privacy vs. exclusive rights.
Having IP protections doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t have problems with infringement. What trademarks, copyrights, and patents do is help businesses be prepared to enforce their intellectual property rights
Say you want to open a restaurant. You’ll probably choose a name and have a sign made. You may print menus with your logo or the names of special dishes. You decide to apply for trademarks to protect your brand assets and product names.
Imagine you then find out six months later that there is another restaurant two towns over with the same name and signature menu items. If you have trademarks on your brand elements, you’ll have legal options. If you don’t, it can be harder to respond.
A name, logo, or catchphrase can seem so much a part of a business that you’d never imagine it could be at risk. But without trademarks, copyrights, and patents, IP could be open to infringement, or you could accidentally infringe on someone else. Both could cost a business and lead to legal action.
A LegalShield Small Business Plan gives you legal help when starting a business and growing your company. With a LegalShield Small Business Preferred or Premium Plan, provider lawyers can answer questions about IP strategy, review business documents, and consult on an unlimited number of other business matters.
Get legal guidance for an affordable monthly fee with a LegalShield Membership.
Adding a LegalShield Business Plan Plus Supplement gives you expanded business consultations so you can discuss your IP protection strategy with a provider law firm.
Sources:
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Content Specialist at LegalShield, creating educational resources about legal and consumer protection topics. She focuses on making complex legal and financial concepts accessible to readers and has contributed to various educational articles on consumer rights and protections.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) grants patents, which allow you to protect inventions by revealing their details. Patents are complex, so it’s a good idea to get legal advice about how to protect your business assets.
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