You’ve got a great idea for a product. You know who you want to market to and have found a manufacturer to help you make the prototypes.
Before you start branding and marketing your product, you’d be wise to learn about intellectual property.
Disclaimer – I am not a lawyer, you should consult an attorney who specializes in patents and trademarks. But I have found that the clients who do a bit of homework before they meet with their attorney are more prepared and ask more informed questions.
It is surprising how often a company will want to get a logo designed before there has been any trademark or service mark search and after they’ve spent all the time to tweak the logo (as well as the budget set aside to develop it), they find out they can’t use the name or design because it’s too similar to another mark. Don’t let this happen to you!
Before You Market It, Protect It
Do you know the difference between a Patent, Trademark and Copyright?
1) A patent only protects your idea in the country that you’ve filed it and only for a specified amount of time.
2) A trademark protects the word or symbol you use (like a logo or name) to trade the product or service. It can last indefinitely as long as you continue to use it.
3) A copyright covers an author’s work, applying to original works of literature, music, software, whether they are published or unpublished. You can NOT copyright your product’s name, tag line or logo… that’s where a trademark comes in.
Learn more from Nolo, LegalZoom, the United States Patent and Trademark Office for patent search, trademark search and the U.S. Copyright office.
