Trademark vs Copyright in Business: What's the Difference?
Your business assets extend to your brand name, logos, music, and much more. As such, you can use intellectual property (“IP”) rights to protect your assets. Two important IP rights for businesses are copyrights and trademarks.
Copyright vs Trademark
Copyright
Copyrights give owners the exclusive legal right to their original creations. This means that only the owner(s) can reproduce, sell or license, publish, or perform an original piece of work. According to the Copyright Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42, these ‘original works’ range from literary pieces, such as books, web pages, and software coding, to artistic, dramatic, and even musical works. If another person wants to use your creation, then they must receive your permission or pay you. Your copyright lasts for the duration of your lifetime, plus another 50 years afterward. If you and someone else have joint authorship of the copyright, then the copyright lasts 50 years after the last owner’s death. Once the copyright expires, the creation becomes public domain.
Your rights, as an owner, begin automatically when you create this fixed ‘original’ work (Copyright Act, s. 5(1)). However, to protect your creation, you may choose to register and receive a certificate of registration of copyright. The certificate provides additional proof of ownership and records the names of owners. To find a copy of your registered copyrighted work, search the Copyrights Database as long as it was registered before October 1991. In addition to registering your work, you may wish to mark your work with the copyright symbol (©) to remind the public that this work is protected. Your work does not need to be copyrighted to include this symbol.
Trademark
A trademark is a word, logo, sound, or other device used to distinguish the goods or services of one source from the goods or services of another (Trademarks Act R.S.C., 1985, c. T-13). In other words, trademarks function by distinguishing the goods or services of one business from that of another, making yours distinct.
Trademarks can be ordinary or certification marks. Ordinary trademarks can be one or a combination of, among others, words, colours, and sounds. For example, the word ‘zipper’ is the trademark for the item ‘slide fastener’. The trademark ‘zipper’ was so successful that zipper is now used instead of slide fastener. The lesson is to make your trademarks using creative words or symbols instead of descriptions of your product. The other type of trademark is certification marks, which are licenses showing that a person or business’ goods or services meet a defined standard. A common example is the WI-FI design by Wi-Fi Alliance.
Think of your business name, brand name and logo, slogan, and website domain. All of these can be trademarks. Generally speaking, if you use one of them to differentiate your products and services from those of your competitors, then that one is also working as your trademark. For example, if your business name is “The Beagles” and your sell your product - dog leashes - under the brand name, “The Beagles,” then “The Beagles” operates as your trademark.
The value of your trademarks lies not only in the actual goods or services you sell but also in your business’ reputation. Your business becomes more profitable when customers know and trust it. Thus, it can be worthwhile to put money and time into preserving your business’ corporate image.
One important way of preserving your business’ corporate image is by registering your trademark. In doing so, you get the exclusive right to use the trademark across Canada for a renewable 15-year period. Upon registration, your trademark will appear in the Canadian Trademarks Database, and you will receive a certificate of registration which serves as direct evidence that you own that trademark and prevents others from misusing it. You do not have to register your trademark. In common law, you may obtain legal rights to the trademark after so much time elapses with you using it. However, opting to not register can lead to long, costly legal disputes.
Trade name
If your business operates under a name that is not its legal name, you are using a trade name. Trade names, unlike trademarks, are not legally protected. This means that other companies can operate their businesses under the same name. Considering your assets include your corporate image, you may wish to protect your trade name. To do so, you need to register your trade name as a trademark. However, you can only register it as a trademark if the trade name is used to identify your goods or services. For example, if your business name is “Paw-sible” and your customers know your product under this name, then you can register “Paw-sible” as your trademark. However, if your business name is “Paw-sible” but your customers know your product under the name “Dogs,” then you cannot register the trade name “Paw-sible” as a trademark.
To ensure the assets of your business are protected with IP rights, book a free consultation with us.
