Does incorporating give you a trademark on the company name?

[doggydoodle]

I saw this on another board (no responses yet) and was wondering the same thing. Frank, you reccommend Inc.ing - do you know if this is true?

"I thought I heard someone say that instead of going through the expense of getting a national trademark, just incorporate the company and you have the same protection. This sounds like it's in the category of the "poor man's copyright" where you mail a song to yourself by certified mail - better than nothing."

[ferg2001]

you cant trademark a name.

you can copyright a name

you can trademark a logo

[kozik]

nope..you have to go throught the Trademark deal..its a pain. expensive too.

[doggydoodle]

Thanks for the info!

[Jag]

Trademark info:

A trademark is a word, phrase, logo, etc. used to identify the source of a product or service. The idea behind trademark law is to protect consumers from being fooled about who makes something (as opposed to copyright which is designed to protect the limited monopoly artists and writers have in their work -- so that they'll create stuff).

You develop rights to a trademark simply by using it. Generally, if no one else is already using it for that type of good or service, and if it's not likely to be confused with someone else's mark, and if it's not just descriptive (for example, "GIG POSTER MAKER" probably wouldn't work as a trademark for someone who makes gig posters), you can claim rights in the mark and can add the "TM" symbol to it. If you use it in interstate commerce, you can claim nationwide rights; if its just used in one state, the right would be limited to that area. Registering a trademark with the US Patent & Trademark Office offers some advantages, including the presumption that someone who uses the same or a confusingly similar mark is a willful infringer, and it gives you the right to use the symbol with the R in the Circle.

Registering the corporate name of a business is different from acquiring trademark rights. And registering with the state as a corporation doesn't guarantee that the trademark hasn't already been taken by someone else, it usually just means no one else has registered the same corporate name in that state.

Before using a trademark, it's always best to make sure it isn't already being used as a trademark by someone else.

A good source of general information on how trademarks work is the NOLO site -- http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/index....65FC92D55FEE5D
also the Patent & Trademark Office website -- http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm

It's always best to talk to a lawyer about this kind of stuff.

(BTW, generally you can trademark a name/you can't copyright a name, or title or fact /you can trademark a logo -- but there are always exceptions and picky little rules and exceptions to those rules, and then more exceptions and more rules.) If you have more questions PM me if you want. I don't get a chance to visit GP very often, but I'll try to answer when I can. The API website is also a good place to talk about this stuff.

[bdix]

Like,

Nike® is the trademark for the word "Nike" as a company.
Nike© is the copyright for the way "Nike" looks as a logo.