Protect Your Brand via Copyright

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Brand owners may be able to use copyright law, in addition to trademark law, to better protect their brands.  “Hey, wait a minute,” you say.  “I thought this was a trademark blog!”  Well, it’s our job to make sure every aspect of our clients’ brands is protected in the best way possible—even if that means venturing into the world of copyright law (and patent law . . . but that’s for another post).

Copyright law protects original works, such as writings, pictures and works of art, which have been expressed in a tangible way.  Trademark law, on the other hand, protects words, phrases, symbols and designs that identify and distinguish the source of products and services.

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Our Second (Sort of) Secret Weapon: Time-of-Filing Trademark Watching Services

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You might remember from Tore DeBella’s post that we just love letters of protest . They can delay or even avoid the need to file formal opposition proceedings in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. But wait — how do you learn about conflicting applications *before* they’re published for opposition purposes? Many watching services don’t notify you of conflicting applications until *after* the application has been published. That’s almost always too late to get your letter of protest granted.

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Our (Sort Of) Secret Weapon: Letters of Protest

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It was a mere 43 years ago, in 1972, when Steely Dan first mused “times are hard/you’re afraid to pay the fee/so you find yourself somebody/who can do the job for free.” The “somebody” in Steely Dan’s hit song, appropriately titled “Dirty Work,” was almost certainly not a reference to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (in fact, it likely had a more subtle, less appropriate meaning), but the reference could apply nonetheless. How does one let the PTO do their trademark enforcement “dirty work? By filing a letter of protest, of course.

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