Dr. Lapel Pin:
After we received 200 lapel pins to distribute amongst our clients, we realized that we love our lapel pins so much, that we would like to obtain a trademark to brand it with our new company. Can you offer any advice?
Wanting to Brand in San Diego – CA
Hi WTB-
We receive a lot of emails and questions about “branding.” There’s overwhelming confusion about trademarks, patents and copyrights.
As you know, branding has become a critical component of the online and virtual company identity. With new start-ups entering the market, assuring that a company’s brand is unique from the rest of the crowd is vital. A lapel pin is one facet of labeling the brand. Nevertheless, it is important to understand the difference between a trademark, copyright and a patent.
Copyrights cover a broad spectrum of creative insignia, including: writings, images, renderings, lyrics, and movies. “Just do it,” is an example of an expression that Nike owns the copyrights. The logo displayed on Nike athletic attire is protected by the company’s copyright of that logo.
A copyright mark © denotes that the creative collateral is protected.
Trademarks™ are designed to protect a brand identity. For instance, the Oprah Show, O Magazine and Oxygen are trademarks of Ms. Winfrey’s brand identity. Ms. Winfrey’s image is an intellectual property of her trademark. In terms of labeling a lapel pin with an “O,” Ms. Winfrey could do this because she owns the copyrights to the pin.
To answer your question, in order to secure the copyright of design that appears on your lapel pin, you must show that your organization actively maintains the artwork. Then, register it and follow the protocol for securing the copyrights according to the federal regulations.
Despite the immediacy that the Internet affords entities to protect their copyrights (logo, artwork and photography) by publishing information online, it is best to consult a trademark lawyer regarding the copyrights of your lapel pin.
Congratulations on your new business and feel free to show off your new lapel pins on our site.
