Between the two ends of the spectrum are many narrow cases where the courts will apply the factors listed above. For example, if the brands are similar and the products are also similar, it will be difficult to determine whether consumers are likely to be confused. In one case, the owners of the “Slickcraft” trademark used the mark in connection with the sale of boats used for family recreation in general. They brought an action for failure to fulfil obligations against an undertaking which used the trade mark `Sleekcraft` in connection with the sale of high-speed boats. Since the two types of vessels served significantly different markets, the tribunal concluded that the products were related but not identical. However, after considering many of the factors listed above, the court concluded that the use of Sleekcraft could confuse consumers. AMF Inc. vs. Sleekcraft Boats, 599 F.2d 341 (9th Cir. 1979). These names have market power and it is necessary to provide legal protection to prevent others from usurping the names or creating confusion in the market. This legal protection is the trademark.
A trademark grants the owner the exclusive right to use a brand identifier and the power to prevent others from creating confusion or unfair competition through litigation. A patent is a means by which the government grants legal protection to the inventor of a device, process or technology. It provides a kind of limited monopoly on the use of the invention that allows the patent owner to prohibit others from producing, using, selling, offering or importing the invention in any way. The lawyers available on UpCounsel come from the highest rated lawyers in the country. They come from extraordinary institutions such as Stanford, Harvard and Yale and represent decades of experience in protecting the intellectual property of others. By seeking advice through our network, you will receive the best possible legal assistance. Sign up to get your business off the ground today. There are limits to copyright protection.
First, it protects only the specific expression of the object, not the ideas behind it. Second, it does not protect against works that are clear parodies of the copyrighted work. Third, there is a legal defense against copyright called “fair dealing,” which allows small clips of copyrighted works to be used for reference, review, science, or other purposes. After all, copyright does not protect individual phrases, trade names, or slogans. Your brand represents your reputation and business to the public A trademark legally protects aspects of the trademark that are specific to your business.11 min read Copyright, on the other hand, protects the owners of intellectual property in order to legally copy it. Copyright owners and those with authority may reproduce the associated work for a period of time solely for profit – usually up to 70 years after their death. Software, art, film, music and drawings are just a few examples of copyrighted works. However, brand names, slogans and logos are not registered. In order to obtain copyright and prevent copyright infringement, the applicant must file an application with the U.S. Copyright Office. Another common practice among trademark owners is to follow their trademark with the word trademark to define the word as a trademark. Johnson & Johnson changed the text of their Band-Aid TV commercial jingle from “I`m stuck on the bandages because Band-Aid stuck to me” to “I`m stuck on the Band-Aid brand because the bandages stick to me.” [14] Google has worked to prevent this process and to discourage publications from using the term “Google search” in web searches.
In 2006, the Oxford English Dictionary[15] and the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary[16] struck a balance between recognizing the widespread use of the verb coinage and maintaining the search engine`s association with currency, defining Google (all lowercase letters, ending in -le) as a verb that “the Google search engine uses, to obtain information on the Internet”. Trademarks are available from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Registering your brand name requires the submission of a sample of the brand, an application, and a fee. The process is lengthy and, due to the legal implications, the involvement of an intellectual property lawyer is recommended. Another meaning of the word generic in the pharmaceutical industry refers to products whose patent protection has expired. For example, Lipitor was generated in the United States when the first competing generic version was approved by the FDA in November 2011. In this context, the term generation refers to the process by which a brand-name drug loses its market exclusivity from generics. There are two different types of trademarks, basic and registered.
Once you start using something to uniquely represent your brand, you can drop it by placing the placeholder after the item. This gives you a certain level of legal protection in case someone else tries to steal, abuse, or confuse your trademark. While a trademark is a corporate image that is built over time and represents a reputation for quality in the eyes of customers, a trademark is a legal protection of the trademark granted by the Trademark and Patent Office. In certain circumstances, trademark protection may extend beyond words, symbols and phrases to other aspects of a product, such as its color or packaging.