The main reason there are things such as trademarks and copyright is that every work or idea needs to be protected at all costs. Trademark and copyright are used to guarantee that only the rightful owners and creators will be entitled to make the most out of these. While these two offer protection under the law, these concepts have different functions and purposes.
Let us see how a trademark differs from copyright.
What is a Trademark?
Trademark is used to protect a word, device, name, or symbol utilized in commerce. The purpose of trademarks is to distinguish products of a certain source, like a company, from those of others. Even though an individual person can also trademark something, this is usually applied by legal entities or businesses. Basically, a trademark serves as a brand name’s protection.
What is a Copyright?
Copyright gives protection to an extensive range of intellectual or creative work, including written works and musical, artistic and dramatic creations. Other items that are covered by copyright include songs, books, movies, computer software and sculptures. The copyright can give the creator exclusive rights to a specific material which will usually include the right to publicly display or perform the work and sell and produce the material’s copies. The owner of the copyright may also export or import the work, transmit this through video or radio and decide on the people who can financially profit from or perform it.
Key differences between Trademark and Copyright
| Trademark | Copyright |
| A trademark protects items that define a company brand. | Copyright is applied in literary and artistic works. |
| Trademarks are federal matters. | Copyrights are creatures of federal law. |
| Trademark only comes into being once it has been registered and the registration has been approved, with the approval. | Copyright is automatic. |
| Trademarks are issued for a finite time period but in the right circumstance, these can be renewed, which means that they can actually last forever. | Copyrights will expire and the moment they do, they are no longer revivable. |
| It protects enterprise, logo, product names, phrases, slogans, etc. | It protects books, articles, web contents, paintings, photographs, songs, movies, recorded shows, choreography, etc. |
| Trademark manifests exclusive rights to the owner of the trademark to use it to assign the license to another party to use the same. | It is a bundle right conferred by law that protects the original piece of work from being copied. |
| It identifies the brand and separates it from other products in the market. | It prevents others from publishing or copying the original piece of work. |
| Issued for a comparatively shorter period. | Issued for long term. |