Chapter 3

The Trademark-and-Copyright Two-Step

IN THIS CHAPTER

check Understanding trademarks and the law

check Establishing copyrights and your right to be covered

check Registering your work

check Hiring lawyers instead

Your business is important to you, and protecting your hard work and assets is probably high on your list of concerns. From your company logo to your business documentation to your website, making certain your intellectual property (IP) is protected from improper use, plagiarism, and defamation is a never-ending process.

In this chapter, we show you how to protect your investment by registering for trademarks and filing your copyright.

Understanding Why Trademarks and Copyrights Matter

Creating a distinctive name, symbol, or phrase for use in your business can involve a lot of work. After all, branding companies are paid tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars to come up with the right names for new products or services. The same hard work and amount of time invested applies to a written work of art, a clever body of text used on your website, or an original piece of artwork: If ...

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