Trademark, Copyrighting: when to do what

[godeep34]

I have a apparel line I am starting. I believe in the name and what to have it trademarked. That part I understand. (i hope) Eventually I will be launching a website. Will that fall under what I get trademarked or do I need to get that copyrighted?

I am mainly confused on what protects you from what and what to apply to what.

If I trademark, when should copyright?

Is there some kind of order for the two?

Thanks!

[ipwatchdog]

Trademarks protect logos, names, slogans, sounds and more.

Copyrights protect expression. You can obtain a copyright on a story, poem, song, sculpture and much more.

With respect to a website, you can protect aspects of a website with a copyright. Take a look at:

What It Means to Copyright a Website

Best of luck to you.

_Gene

[rdc]

Godeep,

Generally, copyright will apply to aspects of the website. Trademark may apply to your business's name and/or logo (and possibly any associated trade dress).

Trademark will prevent other companies from using your name (with certain limitations) and attempting to benefit from your brand (e.g., selling knock-off clothing with your logo on it etc). It may also prevent others from "diluting" the quality of your brand name/logo.

Trademark is, most likely, of higher importance to you right now, because you need to have a proper trademark search/clearance done to avoid having someone who has previously used/registered the name bring an action against you later (this could be bad/expensive). Furthermore, registration is highly important in establishing your claim to it.

Copyright will basically assist you in preventing others from copying certain elements of your work (parts of the web site). Copyright is a less involved registration process, but must generally be done periodically in the case of an ever-changing web site. Copyright exists automatically under federal law at the time of creation of a work. However, federal registration is required in order to be able to receive certain protections in the event that you have to sue someone (e.g., statutory damages, etc).

You may also want to consider having an attorney do a website audit/review for general legal compliance (intellectual property clearance, as well as various legal documentation specific to your site, such as privacy policy, terms of use, sales agreements, membership agreements, etc).

In the meantime, you should begin putting others on legal notice of your trademark/copyright rights (those created upon creation but not federally registered) by placing "TM" beside your name/logo/slogan and "(c) 2009 Yourcompanyname" somewhere on your website. Avoid using ®, as this is for federally registered trademarks only.

If I can be of further help, please let me know.