is a trademark needed for my clothing name brand?

Question

do i need to have the name brand of my clothing company trademarked or is a copyright fine. copyright happens as soon as i creat the art work (have to keep the original art) is that correct?

if its trademarked will i have to pay taxes at the end of the year?

Answer 1

It is NOT required that you file for trademark. First use or common-law rights do give you some protection. But registering for a trademark does provide you with several benefits. Here's what the USPTO has to say:

"You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark. However, owning a federal trademark registration on the Principal Register provides several advantages, e.g.,

• constructive notice to the public of the registrant's claim of ownership of the mark;
• a legal presumption of the registrant's ownership of the mark and the registrant's exclusive right to use the mark nationwide on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the registration;
• the ability to bring an action concerning the mark in federal court;
• the use of the U.S registration as a basis to obtain registration in foreign countries; and
• the ability to file the U.S. registration with the U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods."

Copyrights can be obtained for things of an artistic nature. This includes, of course, poetry, films, sculptures, music, fiction, etc. But can also include things that may not necessarily seem "artistic" in the general sense of the word. Copyrights can also be obtained for advertising copy, games, software programs and blueprints, to name just a few.

Trademarks can be names of products or services, logos, slogans, packaging and even sounds and smells. In essence, a trademark can be almost anything that is used to identify a particular product or service. Registering a trademark grants the owner exclusive rights to the mark within the specified industry.

Of course, it's necessary to research the mark comprehensively prior to filing to ensure that there is no possibility of infringing upon another party.

There are no taxes to be paid when filing for a trademark. Of course, you'll still have to pay your Federal & State taxes; whether you have a trademark or not doesn't change that.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 2

The first company that used the name and earned money in that industry is the one that owns the trademark. If you trademark a name - when you trademark a name you have 3 years to earn money on that name to get the trademark approved. If another company can prove that they used the name first in the same industry for 5 years after the trademark was approved, most likely it's they will end up getting the trademark from you. So if you wait and another company tries to take it, you can usually take it back but that will cost more than the $500 it takes to trademark a name. And on the other hand, you need to make sure their isn't another company already using the name but hasn't trademarked it. As I said, trademarks are specific to industry.

Answer 3

Copyrights and trademarks don't have anything to do with your taxes.

Copyright protects original works of expression, such as novels, fine and graphic arts, music, audio recordings, photography, software, video, cinema, and choreography by preventing people from copying or commercially exploiting them without the copyright owner's permission.

Copyright laws specifically do not protect names, titles or short phrases. That's where trademark law comes in. Trademark protects distinctive words, phrases, logos, symbols, slogans, and any other devices used to identify and distinguish products or services in the marketplace.

There are, however, areas where both trademark and copyright law may be used to protect different aspects of the same product. For example, copyright laws may protect the artistic aspects of a graphic or logo used by a business to identify its goods or services, while trademark may protect the graphic or logo from use by others in a confusing manner in the marketplace. Similarly, trademark laws are often used in conjunction with copyright laws to protect advertising copy. The trademark laws protect the product or service name and any slogans used in the advertising, while the copyright laws protect the additional creative written expression contained in the ad.

Answer 4

What is a Copyright?
A copyright protects original work of authorship such as a picture, drawing, graphics, software program, written work, sculpture, song, or photograph. Copyright law prevents you from copying another's copyrighted work for any purpose; making things based on the copyrighted work; distributing copies of the copyrighted work; publicly performing the copyrighted work; displaying the copyrighted work; and in the case of sound recordings, transmitting the recording over the internet or in another media. In a nutshell, copyright law protects the expression of one's idea.

What is a Trademark?
A trademark is a word, name, symbol or other device that identifies the goods or services of a given person or company and distinguishes them from the goods or services of other persons or companies. Trademark law prevents you from using another's trademark (such as the name of a musical group or artist) on your merchandise, because such use will cause consumers to believe that the trademark owner has made, approved of, or endorsed your merchandise. In short, a trademark is someone's name/brand. For example, CafePress.com® is a registered trademark.

Answer 5

you should just pay the original trademark fee in the begining then it should be yours.

Answer 6

Better