Copyright

Copyright can protect a wide variety of works for a very long period of time at very little cost to the artist. While registration is no longer required in the United States, registration with a third-party, Governmental authority for such a low fee makes a lot of sense, especially if proof of authorship is necessary to preserve ownership rights in the event of such litigation as an infringement suit or the like.

Copyright does NOT protect names of businesses, products, or services (this requires a Trademark) or inventions (this requires a Patent).

Trademark

SERIOUS PEOPLE & BUSINESSES REGISTER THEIR TRADEMARKS

Trademark Law is the body of law that offers exclusive protection for names and/or logo designs; Trademarks (for goods) and Service marks (for services) are usually business names, but can also include names of products, services offered to the public, and/or "tag" phrases like "America's Best."

Registration of "marks" is not required in the USA, but it is highly advisable.  Even without registration, Common Law Rights in your mark accrue to you over time, assuming that you are the bona fide oldest and continuous user of that name.  One problem that frequently arises with such "common law" protection, however, is that others, including the various State and Federal trademark authorities, probably will not know of your rights, and these others may use the same or confusingly similar mark and/or register it first.

FEDERAL Registration of Trademarks offers NATIONWIDE exclusive protection for your mark all at once. Federal Registration through the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, DC, costs approximately $325 for 10 years of renewable coverage, and is necessary in today's climate of interstate and international commerce, and Toll-Free 800 numbers, global email, and 24-hour interactive websites.

Protect Your Domain and register for trademark protection. The next time someone spoofs your domain, sue them under U.S. Federal trademark law for trademark infringement.

Federal trademark law is an effective way to stop spoofers and spammers in their tracks. Unlike most anti-spam laws, trademark law has the advantage of being well-established, well-accepted, and, most importantly, well-understood by judges. And Federal trademark law is available to everybody, not just agencies and ISPs.

Suing a spoofer or other infringer under Federal trademark law can allow you to get immediate injunctive relief (the Court will order the spoofer to stop immediately). Federal trademark law also has provisions for monetary damages, and sometimes will even allow for an award of attorneys fees.

When someone counterfeits and infringes on your trademark, particularly where they have knowingly done it with the intention of confusing consumers and trading on your good name, the Court can order them to transfer any profits made as a result of the infringement to you. It can also order other damages, and sometimes even triple damages. The court can also order them to pay some or all of your attorneys fees.

Trademark law also allows you to sue anyone who has benefited from the improper use of your trademark. This is known as either vicarious or contributory infringement. While the spammer might be hard to trace, you will know the advertiser that benefits from the spam. This allows you to sue the advertiser. When you sue them, the process often leads you  directly to the original spoofing spammer.
 

Copyright © Ronald S. Cook, P.C.

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