What legal rights–if any–are offered for titles, names, phrases, etc.?
By Yahoo User • Category: Trademarks ProceduresI’m starting a small organization and desperately need to adopt an exclusive legal right to my association’s name. Copyrights and registered trademarks, apparently, do not offer what I need. According to the copyright law, “Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents, nor ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration” may be claimed under a legal copyright. Are there other legal devices that blanket such things? (Namely titles or business names).
No, I think the idea is that most of that needs to stay in the public domain.
Yes, business names are TRADEMARKS. For example, McDonalds, Windex, Energizer are all registered trademarks. Tradmarks can also cover slogans: “JUST DO IT” or “I’M LOVIN’ IT”Registration takes more than a copyright (that is, the process is usually longer and may require you to respond to an “office action” if your registration is not acceptable on its face), but, you don’t have to have a registration to enforce your trademark rights (that’s called the law of “unfair competition” or sometimes “deceptive trade practices.”)The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has information about what a tradmark is and whether you should register. You may attempt to register yourself or have an attorney do it for you for a few hundred dollars.http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/doc/basic/Now, you don’t get an “exclusive” legal right to the name — you just get to prevent others from using your term when it would likely cause consumers confusion as to the source of goods and services. In other words, you might be able to have JOE’S GARAGE for automotive services and JOE’S GARAGE for the name of a restaurant.Trademarks are also dependent upon first use in commerce, not registration. Someone else may have already taken your name and has nationwide priority.
Trademark law protects this kind of thing. I couldn’t open a business called Hershey’s Chocolate or produce a cartoon about Mickey Mouse because those things are trademarked.