Comparison between Trademark vs Copyright vs Patent?

Comparison between Trademark vs Copyright vs Patent?

What Is The Difference Between Copyright, Patent, and Trademark?

Copyright, patent, and trademark are all different types of intellectual property (IP). Although the three types of IP are very different, people often confuse them.

A brief description of copyright, patents, and trademarks, including a brief discussion of how these forms of IP differ from copyright, is provided below.

A copyright is a collection of rights automatically vested to you once you have created an original work. To understand how these rights can be used or licensed, it is helpful to analogize them to a bundle of sticks, where each stick represents a separate right vested to you as the owner. These rights include the right to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies, to perform the work publicly, and to display the work publicly.

As the copyright owner, you have the authority to keep each “stick,” to transfer them individually to one or more people, or to transfer them collectively to one or more people. This can be accomplished through licensing, assigning, and other forms of transfers. The power of copyright allows you to choose the way your work is made available to the public.

What’s a Patent?

The primary goal of the patent law is to encourage innovation and commercialization of technological advances. Patent law incentivizes inventors to publicly disclose their inventions in exchange for certain exclusive rights. A patent protects inventions. These inventions can include new and useful processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter as well as improvements to these. Certain computer programs may fall within the subject matter protected by both patents and copyrights. In this respect the patent system compliments copyright protection by providing protection for functional aspects of the software, which are not protected by copyright. Unlike with copyright protection, to get patent protection one must first apply for and be granted a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Unlike the copyright registration process, the patent application process is expensive, complex, difficult, and time consuming and generally should not be attempted without the assistance of an experienced patent attorney or agent.

What’s a Trademark?

According to the USPTO, “a trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. A service mark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than goods. Examples include brand names, slogans, and logos. (The term “trademark” is often used in a general sense to refer to both trademarks and service marks.)” Similar to copyright, a person does not need not register a trademark or service mark to receive protection rights, but there are certain legal benefits to registering the mark with the USPTO. There is rarely an overlap between trademark and copyright law but it can happen, for instance, when a graphic illustration is used as a logo the design may be protected both under copyright and trademark.

 CopyrightPatentsTrademark
What’s Protected?Original works of authorship, such as books, articles, songs, photographs, sculptures, choreography, sound recordings, motion pictures, and other worksInventions, such as processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter as well as improvements to theseAny word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others
Requirements to be ProtectedA work must be original, creative and fixed in a tangible mediumAn invention must be new, useful and nonobviousA mark must be distinctive (i.e., that is, it must be capable of identifying the source of a particular good)
Term of ProtectionAuthor’s life plus 70 more years.20 yearsFor as long as the mark is used in commerce
Rights GrantedRight to control the reproduction, making of derivative works, distribution and public performance and display of the copyrighted worksRight to prevent others from making, selling using or importing the patented inventionRight to use the mark and to prevent others from using similar marks in a way that would cause a likelihood-of-confusion about the origin of the goods or services.
Created & Posted by (Anuj)

CA-Article at TAXAJ

TAXAJ is a consortium of CA, CS, Advocates & Professionals from specific fields to provide you a One Stop Solution for all your Business, Financial, Taxation & Legal Matters under One Roof. Some of them are: Launch Your Start-Up Company/BusinessTrademark & Brand RegistrationDigital MarketingE-Stamp Paper OnlineClosure of BusinessLegal ServicesPayroll Services, etc. For any further queries related to this or anything else visit TAXAJ

Watch all the Informational Videos here: YouTube Channel

TAXAJ Corporate Services LLP

Address: 1/11, 1st Floor, Sulahkul Vihar, Old Palam Road, Dwarka, Delhi-110078

Contact: 8961228919 ; 8802812345 | E-Mail: connect@taxaj.com
    • Related Articles

    • What’s the Difference Between Trademark And Copyright?

      What’s the Difference Between Copyright and Trademark? Is your business also a brand? Do you create original materials and assets for your business? If so, it's likely you've considered how to protect your intellectual property—and therefore, you ...
    • Patent Registration & Its application process & grant possibilities

      The Patent is an exclusive right granted to the Patentee over their invention for a limited period. Through Patent Registration, the Patentee shall have all the rights regarding controlling, making, using, selling or importing patented product or ...
    • Comparison Between Partnership Firm vs Company

      Partnership Firm vs Company Meaning of Partnership Firm A partnership firm is a type of business entity that is formed by the association of two or more members who have agreed to share the profits of the business, which is carried on by all partners ...
    • Comparison Between One Person Company vs LLP

      What is the meaning of One Person Company and a Limited Liability Partnership? One Person Company (OPC) means a Company that has only one person as to its member. An OPC is effectively a company that has only one shareholder as its member.    ...
    • How many Classes of Trademark are there in India?

      What is a trademark? A trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services. It’s how customers recognize you in the marketplace and distinguish you from your competitors. The word ...