Company Logo (register a trademark, copyrght it, both?)

[yoyoyoyoyo]

Looking to start first company and not sure what I should do for the company logo...

register for trademark? get a copyright? both? and/or something else?

Thank you :)

[Evan]

Trademarks are just for company logos. They provide a registered "mark" for your trade, or service (SM).

Copyrights are for original authorship of a variety of work. You can't copyright a phrase. (Similarly, you can't copyright an invention, you'd have to patent it.)

[nealrm]

You will want to trademark your logo. For a limited local trademark, all you need to do is add the "TM" to the logo. However, this offers much less protection than a registered trademark (The circle R). If your brand is national you will want to register the trademark.

If the logo is a graphic it is already copyrighted at the moment of creation. The copyright provides protection on the use of the graphic that are different than those offer by the trademark.

Here is a link for more info on trademarks.
Basic Facts, Trademarks (http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/index.jsp)

[Business Attorney]

nealrm's brief explanation is a good short summary of both trademarks and copyright, and I echo his recommendation that you should get a federal registration to get the best protection possible.

One correction I would like to make, however, is that a common law trademark is created by use (with or without the TM designation) and the geographic scope of your market also determines the geographic scope of the trademark. You are not necessarily stuck with a "limited local trademark." If you are using the mark to identify goods or services sold in a national market, your use may create a common law trademark with rights on a national scale.

The operative word is "may." The problem with common law trademarks is that you have to prove that, through use, you are entitled to certain rights. With a federal registration, those rights are yours simply by filing.

This is a grossly over-simplified summary and there are other rights and limitations that may apply, but this should give you a good general picture.

[yoyoyoyoyo]

yep, looks like I wanna' go Registered Trademark here.

as I wish to establish this on a national level.


what about International trademarks? like, if I want to expand my business into France, and use the same logo that i've been using in the U.S.

how do I become Internationally legal/represented in this same regard?

[yoyoyoyoyo]

and, thank you guys greatly, for your depth of knowledge/experience.