Trademarks and/or Copywrites?

[Pamaroma]

This is all getting so confusing to me. I actually think Trademark is more of the appropriate term. Do you all trademark the name of your business? I want my name to stick and not be taken by another business. How about candle names and scent shots and wax melts? I don't care about trademarking these items because the scents have so many common names, but I do not want to get legally tied up because someone else did trademark it. It just all gets so confusing to me. 😧

Edited October 16, 2017 by Pamaroma

[Moonstar]

I did a quick Google search for you. I beleive if your also going to trademark a logo thats a different step to search that it already isn't being used trademarked. 

I could be wrong though, the attached link might address that. BTW how have you been, I haven't seen you on the board in awhile . Hope all has been well  

 

http://guides.wsj.com/small-business/starting-a-business/how-to-trademark-a-company-name/

[TallTayl]

A trademark is something that lets you have sole use of a word, phrase or image. Your company name should probably be trademarked if you plan to stick with it for any length of time. Any unique artwork used as your logo should also be trademarked.  Names and images need to be unique enough within the business category you register so as not to be confused with any others. For instance, you can trademark "Pamorama's Candles" in the respective category if nobody else has it. The trademark is ONLY for the EXACT words used in the trademark. Someone else can use Pamorama's Awesome Candles. It would be up to you to attempt to defend the use of that phrase.

 

Trademarking scent names becomes difficult when using commonly used words or phrases. It is not impossible, as people who trademarked Unicorn Farts and unicorn Poop for soap. They had to sneak it in as others had first use, but did not know it was being trademarked under their noses. Someone trademarked MY WORDS in a similar product a couple of years after I began using using it successfully. Now I see it, and bastardizations of the words all over. It is very frustrating and expensive to defend. 

 

Someone tried to trademark "Soap Loaf" a while back. It made it all the way through to the Registered TM stage. When it became known a lot of opposition was raised through various Facebook groups whose members use the term, and had for years and were able to prove first use in business. The trademark was later revoked. The expense of the process to trademark was lost.

 

Check on the online trademark electronic search system , TESS,  http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4806:kegher.1.1 to see if words you are thinking of trademarking are already taken. if you find something fairly close, I would personally try to think of something else that is totally unique and totally YOU. 

 

To trademark a business name, the business entity must already be legally established. This can be as a sole prop, s-corp, LLC, etc. you will need to provide a specimen, or physical example of how you are using the name, phrase or image. It can be a photo of Your product. You will also need to provide the date of first use. A listing on your web site that is easily verified, or an etsy listing should do. Make it clear so that there is zero chance it could be misunderstood. 

 

Copyright is "usually" on a written piece of work, or a physical piece of work/art. As artists, we have immediate implied copyright on all things we create. Like when someone creates a statue, for instance, another person cannot simply mold it and begin using the resulting copies. We cannot take licensed images or ideas and automatically apply them to our work without express permission of the license holder (think movie and pop culture images along with sports logos). And you cannot copy and paste someone else's words without credit given the author(and sometimes permission from the author.) 

 

does this help at all?

[Sarah S]

I love it when TT breaks it down!

 

[Pamaroma]

4 hours ago, Moonstar said:

I did a quick Google search for you. I beleive if your also going to trademark a logo thats a different step to search that it already isn't being used trademarked. 

I could be wrong though, the attached link might address that. BTW how have you been, I haven't seen you on the board in awhile . Hope all has been well  

 

http://guides.wsj.com/small-business/starting-a-business/how-to-trademark-a-company-name/

Thank you. Haven't been making to many candles lately, but now ready to and have started back. I do come on here occasionally, read and take notes tho

[Pamaroma]

3 hours ago, TallTayl said:

A trademark is something that lets you have sole use of a word, phrase or image. Your company name should probably be trademarked if you plan to stick with it for any length of time. Any unique artwork used as your logo should also be trademarked.  Names and images need to be unique enough within the business category you register so as not to be confused with any others. For instance, you can trademark "Pamorama's Candles" in the respective category if nobody else has it. The trademark is ONLY for the EXACT words used in the trademark. Someone else can use Pamorama's Awesome Candles. It would be up to you to attempt to defend the use of that phrase.

 

Trademarking scent names becomes difficult when using commonly used words or phrases. It is not impossible, as people who trademarked Unicorn Farts and unicorn Poop for soap. They had to sneak it in as others had first use, but did not know it was being trademarked under their noses. Someone trademarked MY WORDS in a similar product a couple of years after I began using using it successfully. Now I see it, and bastardizations of the words all over. It is very frustrating and expensive to defend. 

 

Someone tried to trademark "Soap Loaf" a while back. It made it all the way through to the Registered TM stage. When it became known a lot of opposition was raised through various Facebook groups whose members use the term, and had for years and were able to prove first use in business. The trademark was later revoked. The expense of the process to trademark was lost.

 

Check on the online trademark electronic search system , TESS,  http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4806:kegher.1.1 to see if words you are thinking of trademarking are already taken. if you find something fairly close, I would personally try to think of something else that is totally unique and totally YOU. 

 

To trademark a business name, the business entity must already be legally established. This can be as a sole prop, s-corp, LLC, etc. you will need to provide a specimen, or physical example of how you are using the name, phrase or image. It can be a photo of Your product. You will also need to provide the date of first use. A listing on your web site that is easily verified, or an etsy listing should do. Make it clear so that there is zero chance it could be misunderstood. 

 

Copyright is "usually" on a written piece of work, or a physical piece of work/art. As artists, we have immediate implied copyright on all things we create. Like when someone creates a statue, for instance, another person cannot simply mold it and begin using the resulting copies. We cannot take licensed images or ideas and automatically apply them to our work without express permission of the license holder (think movie and pop culture images along with sports logos). And you cannot copy and paste someone else's words without credit given the author(and sometimes permission from the author.) 

 

does this help at all?

Thank you!! This helps a lot!!!!