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Copyrighting your candle designs


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I've never done it with my candles but I have done it with my soaps..If I have a particular piece that's sculpted and I have a mold made from that piece..I apply for copyrights..that way I know no one else will be able to make that mold or any other soap seller will be able to carry it. For fragance oils, a lot of my oils are custom blended by an aromatherapist who I work closely with...so while the oil itself doesn't need to be copyrighted the name of it that I give it I do go ahead and have it copyrighted..if I list top and base notes in my description of the scent I never list ratios. For Example I have a scent that I copyrighted the name "snow roses" I can say that it's a blend of rose, vanilla and baby powder in my description..there's also another scent I don't list and I never list base or top notes of this oil.

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Copyright protects only original works of authorship, and might be applied, for example, to a website you created.

A brand name/image, product name/image, or other identifying mark associated with a company ("tart" for example) may be protected as a registered trade or service mark.

An idea, invention, or process would be protected by a patent.

Also, HI ALL!

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I checked into "protecting" a product of mine once about 1 1/2 years ago. And to trademark something, you have to apply for it, and it, then, cost about $300.00 (give or take) I never did it, but if I ever did, it would have to be something I was serious about keeping around a while. I just didn't have the money at the time. But it is a good idea.

Jamie

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Answer to why copyright?

I am a candle fanatic and love to see new creations. There are some really beautiful ones out there, I am a fan of small business and crafters, I have seen many new ideas and I often see the mass producers taking these ideas and making them their own. I have read up on copyrights and wondered what you all thought, is it worth it, etc.

Thanks for your responses

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I'm not really sure about the designs, but Yank** has the copyright on the word "tart"

ok...I'm confused...does that mean you cannot use the word tart to describe your tarts? Does that mean only Yankme can use it? Dam...I was going to call my tarts "Posh Tarts" so know I have to use something else? :lipsrseal

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I checked into "protecting" a product of mine once about 1 1/2 years ago. And to trademark something, you have to apply for it, and it, then, cost about $300.00 (give or take) I never did it, but if I ever did, it would have to be something I was serious about keeping around a while. I just didn't have the money at the time. But it is a good idea.

Jamie

It depends on where you live. A trademark in Louisiana costs $50.00.

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because in a previous life I was a writer I got used to copyrighting my stuff...it's not that expensive here in NY and it's not that complicated. I haven't as yet copyrighted a candle...however, I just had a 8lb silicone victorian shoe mold made for me that I will pour wax in and I went ahead and put the papers thru to make sure the mold can't be duplicated. The master for the mold came from a vintage piece of pottery..over 50 years old and no copyright existed on it that I could find..to be clear..I'm not copywriting the piece of pottery itself..just the mold that was made from it...

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Well here's my thoughts on copyrights ... people will continue to ignore them. Yeah, Yankee will send you a C&D letter and tell you to change the name, but if you copyright a style of candle ... that's gonna cause a lot of rumblings. It had better be very original, because if you take someone else's work and do it, that person is going to be peeved.

Think about the wax dipped bear incident that went on. It wasn't their idea. Bears and things were dipped long before they applied for the patent. Those people say they did this to protect the little guy. BS, they did it to corner a market they felt should be theirs and make $ off of others. And they will send you letters too to C&D.

I also understand putting a copyright or a patent or trademark on what is yours. For instance, your company should be protected and anything under that or associated with your company name ... things that are original to your company, yeah protect them.

Patent an idea or a concept someone has shared on here and you are using, uh uh.

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ok...I'm confused...does that mean you cannot use the word tart to describe your tarts? Does that mean only Yankme can use it? Dam...I was going to call my tarts "Posh Tarts" so know I have to use something else? :lipsrseal

That's correct. It's a Yankme trademark when used to describe a scented wax melt or wax potpourri. They were the first to use the term in commerce in connection with such a product, so they claimed and registered it.

You can do the same with your own identifying marks if you like (for instance, your company name and logo). You have to be the first to use them in commerce and they have to be distinctive. For instance, "tart" can't be trademarked in connection with a fruit-filled crust because that's generic. A "pop-tart" can and is trademarked. A strangely shaped suppository for hemmorhoids could be trademarked so that you could be the sole purveyor of ass tarts and all others would have to be content with selling ass melts even if they're shaped like a dessert.

To remain in force, trademarks have to be defended. If you called your product a Posh Tart, you would definitely receive a cease & desist letter from Yankme. This might be fun to get and put up on your wall, but they should and probably would sue you if you persisted.

After all, it's because of Yankme that we call them tarts. That's the power of branding, which we all have a right to develop and protect. It's because of Chesebrough-Ponds that we often refer to petrolatum as vaseline. You can sell petrolatum but you can't call it that.

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After all, it's because of Yankme that we call them tarts. That's the power of branding, which we all have a right to develop and protect. It's because of Chesebrough-Ponds that we often refer to petrolatum as vaseline. You can sell petrolatum but you can't call it that. __________________

Exactly

That's why Kleenex are what we call tissues, and Jello is what we call gelatin and it doesn't matter whose brand you use..Kotex will always be kotex..

I have a friend who bought a floral shop..cleverly he called it This Bud's For You..you wouldn't think that a huge beer conglomerate would bother with an itty bitty florest in Iowa but they did...He received a cease and desist and had to change everything from business cards to i.r.s. information..

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A strangely shaped suppository for hemmorhoids could be trademarked so that you could be the sole purveyor of ass tarts and all others would have to be content with selling ass melts even if they're shaped like a dessert.

Ass melts......:laugh2:

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  • 3 months later...
Well, if they trademark the word tart. I guess Kellogs is on trouble for their Pop Tarts.

No, because Pop Tarts are not pertaining to a scented wax melt or wax potpourri melt (which Yankee also TMd). It's all in the context of the product.

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There is a lot of confusion about 'copyrighting' things. First of all, anything you create, a song, poem, formula, trademark, invention, etc. you already have the copy rights to it from the moment you have created it. Its yours. You have the copyright.

You don't 'copyright' that creation, you register the copyright. You are not required to do this. However, registering the copyright to your creation helps you protect it. But it is no quarantee. It can help protect your copyright if you ever find yourself in court fighting over it.

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mmmmm what about your candle company name?

When I joined this board, I sat and thought for hours about a whitty name and came up with Wick'n'Wax.....

I recently gave some thought to what if I got good enough to sell them, theres too much competition on ebay, I'd perhaps have a website, lo and behold, there is a website and company (and its in the UK) called Wick 'n' Wax and is under wicknwaxcandles addy.

So, me being me and wanting to do the right thing I emailed them, explained that I'd come up with their name and they suggested, I change it....

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Don't know what the copyright laws are in the UK. But here in the US your business name is a trade name and would be registered as a 'trademark'.

You do have to make sure the name isn't already registered to another company.

Can you do a variation of it?

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