 Re: The Shortcomings of TMs and Copyrights for shirts
I think you're pretty much right. A trademark is like a logo or design that represents a company or brand. A copyright is more for the printed word and original art. It can also represent an original idea. My brother does game design and knows these things better than I do. He once told me that it really doesn't help that much to trademark as it is expensive and you only have to change things about 10% to get around it. Copyright is a little better, but if someone wants to rip you off, unless it is megabucks, or if you are like Disney or some other corporate monster with nothing better to do than sue people, it usually isn't worth the hassle. If you do want to scare someone into stopping the rip-off, usually an email telling them that they are infringing on copyrights and that if they do not cease, you will file an injunction and sue them. That usually scares most folks straight. |