Introduction
Intellectual property is important to your small business. It's your ideas -- and their implementation -- that have gotten you where you are today. But whether you’re thinking about a new logo for your business cards, additional content for your Web site or a slogan to make you stand out from the competition, you'll want to protect those ideas.
"Over the past decade, executives at small companies have been more acutely aware of the impact their intellectual property has on the value and strategic vision of their enterprise, and thereby have acted to protect it," says Jonathan Lass, shareholder with the Austin, Texas-based law firm Clark, Thomas and Winters.
Common types of intellectual property marks
©: According to the U.S. Copyright Office, a copyright is a "form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of 'original works of authorship.' "
To obtain a copyright, there is no form to complete or fee to pay. A work must simply have three elements: The © symbol (the word "Copyright" or the abbreviation "Copr." will substitute), the year of first publication and the name of the author or owner. Copyrights last for the author’s life, plus 70 years.
So, does simply placing the copyright symbol on a photograph, tagline or Web site content protect it under intellectual property laws? It does.
Lass advises that since the United States jointed the Berne Convention in 1989, placing a copyright symbol prominently on your work of authorship, which may include literary works, musical works, sound recordings, motion pictures and even architectural works, is not required. "The practice is beneficial to copyright owners, though, as it places the world on notice that the work of authorship is theirs and defeats a defense that a copyright infringer may want to use in the event of litigation," Lass says.
TM: According to Lass, "TM" placed after your product or service name indicates the company’s intent to protect the mark used by the company related to its products or services.
SM: Similar to the TM mark, the service mark differs from a trademark in that the mark is used in regards to a service rather than specific products or the packaging or delivery of the service.
®: This indicates that the service or product has been registered, presumably with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. "A registered trademark provides a company with additional offensive and defensive protections," Lass says.
Summary
If you have found that your intellectual property is being used without your permission, Lass recommends contacting your attorney, who will probably draft a simple letter notifying the offending party of the infringement and requesting that it ceases using your trademarked or copyrighted material.
"If that does not occur within the time frame you provide the infringer, you may decide to seek legal action," he says.
See also
