Everything your mind produces is intellectual property: your ideas, your words, and even elements of your business.

As a business owner, it’s important to know what protections you have for your own intellectual property (IP). It’s just as important to recognize other people’s and businesses’ intellectual property so you can respect their unique creations and avoid legal issues.

Two common types of IP protection are trademarks and copyrights. When you register a trademark or copyright with the U.S. government, you’re laying claim to your intellectual property. This creates a legal record, and lets others know who owns those words or works.

Understanding the basics of copyrights and trademarks helps you respect the works of others—and protect your own intellectual property in your business.

What Is a Trademark?

A trademark protects a word, phrase, design, or combination of those things that indicates your business is the source of your goods or services. Trademarks can include business names, logos, and even specific scents or colors that customers would associate with your company. Trademarks are represented by three symbols: ™ for an unregistered trademark for goods, ℠ for an unregistered trademark for services and ® for a registered trademark.

You own your trademark as soon as you start using it for your goods or services, and the scope of your trademark is limited to the type of business you own. For example, you might trademark the phrase “Get ‘em while they’re hot!” for your e-commerce shop selling viral TikTok products. If you see a local hot dog business using the same phrase, it’s not trademark infringement because that business is in a different, non-competing field.

Trademarks protect a business’s brand—the combination of elements that make customers think of you instead of your competition. Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are both national coffee shops, but the logos, fonts, colors, menus, flavors, and in-store experiences are unique. These elements help customers distinguish between the two businesses.

Registering your trademark with the federal government documents your trademark in a public database, and creates rights in the United States and its territories. This helps others avoid accidentally infringing on your trademark rights, and creates a legal presumption that the trademark belongs to you. Once you’ve registered a trademark, you can use the ® symbol, instead of the ™ or ℠ symbol. There are also options to register trademarks in some states and other countries

Trademarks can last as long as you choose for them to. Your business needs only to keep up with maintenance filings and fees for as long as you’re actively using the trademark for commerce.

What Is a Copyright?

A copyright protects a person’s original creative work that’s expressed in a tangible way. Copyrighted works can include websites, blogs, books, photography, and music. When you see the symbol ©, it’s denoting a person’s copyright.

Creative works don’t have to be formally “published” to be protected by copyright. As soon as the work is fixed in a lasting way— uch as updating your website text or taking a photo—it’s automatically given copyright under U.S. law.

You can make sure your ownership of the original work is documented by registering your copyright. This can be helpful legal protection, in case someone violates your copyright by using your original work without permission. Visit the U.S. Copyright Office website to start the copyright registration process.

For works created after Jan. 1, 1978, copyright lasts for the duration of the author’s life plus 70 years. Works made for hire—ones that employees create for a business—are protected for 95 years after their publication or 120 years after their creation, whichever is shorter. There are specific rules for anonymous works and works created before 1978; you can find them on the U.S. Copyright Office’s website.

How Trademarks and Copyrights Are Different

Trademarks and copyrights protect intellectual property. You own a trademark for words, phrases, or designs that distinguish your business’s goods or services from your competition. You own the copyright for any creative works you make, which can include your website, blog, app, software code, books, artwork, and photos.

If you’re having trouble distinguishing between trademark and copyright, try using the handy USPTO IP Identifier quiz.

3 Common Business IP Violations and How to Avoid Them

You don’t want to accidentally infringe on a trademark or violate copyrights in your business. That would mean you’re stealing someone else’s intellectual property, and even if it’s unintentional, it can still lead to a lawsuit.

1. Posting photos: When posting to social media or choosing images for your website, don’t use someone else’s photos without permission. Their photos are their copyrighted material.
   Avoid the issue: Ask the photographer for permission to use a photo or find royalty-free photos to use under a license. Unsplash, Creative Commons, and Pexels are three popular websites that offer free images under their licenses.

2. Playing music: Music that plays in a brick-and-mortar store or restaurant without the proper permissions can violate copyright. Musicians own the copyrights for the music and the recording.
   Avoid the issue: Depending on the size of your business, you can play music from an over-the-air radio station. You can also license music directly or through a business subscription to a streaming platform. Pandora for Business, SiriusXM for Business, and Soundtrack Your Brand (previously Spotify for Business) are among popular digital platforms that license music.

3. Using similar branding or words: When creating the name, logo, and atmosphere for your business, it needs to be unique. Adding a “swoosh” under the name of your athletic shoe store could infringe on Nike’s trademark. Opening a dog wash called Pooch Parlor could infringe on the trademark of a Pooch Parlor dog groomer in a neighboring town, even if you weren’t aware that it existed.
   Avoid the issue: Create your own unique business brand without borrowing from other businesses. Research your business name, logo, and slogan using the USPTO’s trademark database to be sure you aren’t inadvertently infringing on a trademark. And register your own trademarks to protect the unique aspects of your business.

Always Consult an Expert

Seeking legal counsel is the safest course of action when you need to understand more about your own business’s trademarks and copyrights, as well as how to avoid violating others’ intellectual property rights. This blog post is informational and certainly shouldn’t be considered legal advice—but it is copyrighted!

The Certum Solutions team can help as you set up and grow your business or online store, so don’t hesitate to reach out. Contact us today to talk.