Should I trademark my shirt slogan?

Should I trademark my shirt slogan?

You Don’t Need a Trademark to Make a Slogan Your Own You can adopt a slogan for your brand without filing out a trademark application. If you want to keep others from using it, however, you should trademark the slogan.

Can you copyright a phrase on a shirt?

Words and logos on T-shirts can be protected with the USPTO, but the overall design of the T-shirt is actually protected by copyright law. As soon as the T-shirt is fixed in a tangible medium, any creative and original aspects of the shirt are protected by copyright law.

Do slogans need to be trademarked?

Generally, taglines and “traditional” trademarks are governed by the same rules. Accordingly, so long as a tagline or slogan is either inherently distinctive or has developed secondary meaning, a tagline is protectable as a trademark.

Can I sell shirts with a phrase?

A seller can use a short phrase as a trademark to brand their wares. They can also create a logo that they put on their products. If you see someone using your trademark or a mark that is similarly close to yours, that could be infringement and worth investigating.

How do I protect my t-shirt slogan?

The most effective way to protect an image or design on a t-shirt or other article of clothing is to file a copyright registration with the U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright protection is strong protection for a reasonable cost.

How do you patent a shirt saying?

You can file your application to register a trademark for your shirt design online using the USPTO’s Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) or through an online legal service provider. You also have to pay a nonrefundable application fee.

Can you trademark one word?

This involves registering a single word as a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). A trademark is a word, phrase, sign, symbol, or logo used to identify a product’s owner. Trademarks give exclusive rights to a person or company to use a specific mark within an industry.

Can you patent a saying?

While you can learn how to patent an idea here, unfortunately, it is not possible to patent a phrase. Instead, you can trademark a phrase by registering it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

How do I patent a phrase on at shirt?

Can someone steal your slogan?

Just because a company has trademark rights, those rights do not absolutely prohibit anyone else from using the same name, logo, or tagline. A business owner can prevent others from using her trademark only if the other use is confusing.

Can you patent a saying on a T-shirt?

If your T-shirt design has symbols, words, or other marks that uniquely distinguish it from other T-shirts on the market you can obtain a trademark to protect your design from others who might wish to capitalize on your intellectual property.

How do I protect my T-shirt slogan?

What names Cannot be trademarked?

What Can’t Be Trademarked?

• Proper names or likenesses without consent from the person.
• Generic terms, phrases, or the like.
• Government symbols or insignia.
• Vulgar or disparaging words or phrases.
• The likeness of a U.S. President, former or current.
• Immoral, deceptive, or scandalous words or symbols.
• Sounds or short motifs.

  Is Apple a trademark?

  What Are Trademarks? The Apple trademark is a good example: While an apple cannot be copyrighted, its artistic representation can be—its use as a symbol for an electronics and software company is protected as a trademark.

  How do you tell if a phrase is trademarked?

  You can search all applied-for and registered trademarks free of charge by using the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)’s Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). If your mark includes a design element, you will have to search it by using a design code.

  Can I trademark my own name?

  Trademark law protects names, logos and other “marks” that are used in commerce. To register your name as a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you must use it in business. But if—like most people—you only use your name for personal purposes, you can’t register it as a trademark.

  Do slogans have copyright?

  Slogans are protected as literary work under Section 2 (o) of The Copyright Act, 1957. However, there has been a reluctance to uphold Slogan under the Copyright Act or categorize them as literary work.