• Home
  • About First Venture Legal
  • Areas of Practice
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

First Venture Legal

Get a free consult

When Do I Register My Copyright or Trademark?

March 28, 2014 by James Johnson Leave a Comment

Tweet

Many entrepreneurs wonder when they need to register a copyright on their company’s product or a trademark on their company’s name and/or logo. The important thing to remember when considering the right time is that, unlike patents, registration is not a requirement for ownership — an author gains copyright when he or she fixes the work in a tangible medium (which includes in a computer file), and a company gains a trademark when it uses the mark in commerce. If ownership attaches upon creation and use, then what is the point of registration, one may ask. Registration (in this article, referring to registration at the federal level) does provide important benefits, including nationwide protection, access to federal courts and statutory damages, and constructive notice to potential infringers. In addition, some courts have held that registration is a procedural condition to being able to file suit to enforce rights. The costs of registering a trademark is usually a couple thousand dollars; for a copyright, significantly less. But a registered copyright or trademark is worth anything only if the holder is willing and able to defend the the copyright or trademark. Accordingly, it may be time to register a copyright or trademark when it becomes worth defending. This is particularly applicable to trademarks — it makes little sense, when just starting out with a business, to register a trademark when nobody has heard of the company. However, once the company has traction and a brand to speak of, it may be worth the expense to register a trademark. However, it may also be worth registering at an early stage if you anticipate potential infringement.

Intellectual Property

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

(617) 600-6132

Site Disclaimer

None of the information presented on this site is intended or inferred to be or to be used as legal advice or as a substitute for legal advice, or is intended or inferred to create an attorney-client relationship. If you require legal advice or the services of an attorney, please contact First Venture Legal or another attorney for that specific purpose.

First Venture Legal and its attorneys claim no special training or expertise in any particular area of law. By accessing this site or its contents, either directly or through a third party, you acknowledge that you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer. Thank you.

Copyright © 2022 · First Venture Legal · PO Box 410121 Cambridge , MA 02141 · Powered by ThriveHive