Clients new to the process of trademark registration sometimes ask first “how to copyright a name?” People confuse the terms trademark and copyrights, since patents trademark and copyrights were long ago lumped together by tradition. They are in fact separate and completely different areas of law and expertise. The correct question to ask is “how to trademark a name?” There is no such thing as copyright protection for a name. Instead, a copyright protects the artistic expression of an idea, such as a song, book, photograph, or art. The name of a product or service is covered by a US trademark, so “trademarking a name” is the more appropriate phrase. A trademark serves to identify and distinguish one merchant’s product or service from another.
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