Question about trademark and t-shirt designs

labexpressions said:

I'm starting a t-shirt line and I have my business name and logo registered.

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Do you mean registered with the state for business purposes? Or registered with the USPTO as an official trademark?

labexpressions said:

I was wanting to know when I create a certain design on the t-shirt is it protected when I put my business name on it?

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T-shirt designs are automatically copyrighted once they are in fixed form. If you want more official proof of ownership, you can register the design with the US Copyright office.

While copyright registration offers benefits like proof of ownership and legal recourse, the only true 'protection' is to aggressively pursue legal action against infringement.

Putting your business name on the design doesn't offer any legal benefit. Instead, you should use the proper registration symbol (™, ®, ©).

registered with the USPTO as an official trademark

All the info Tim provided is correct. One thing to note is that you can not use ® or © symbols unless you have paid the fees and registered with the USPTO. You can use TM on any logo or design you are claiming the trade mark or copyright to without registering it.

Ornamental designs are not normally protected by TM, it would probably be copyright. You can find a nice description of both plus patents here: Design Patents (BitLaw)

labexpressions said:

registered with the USPTO as an official trademark

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That's good. In my opinion, having the brand name and/or logo federally registered as a trademark is the most important IP you can own as a brand. You can register your designs for copyright as well, but that's not required. If you indicate on your website that all artwork is property of your company, that should be enough to claim ownership. Other than using the ® symbol along with your brand name or logo where applicable (such as website, hangtag, labels, marketing materials), I don't think anything else is needed.

There is a website that you can copyright your artwork. It is a basic form of copyright, and I have not had to use it myself (thankfully), but I understand that it works well in a courtroom.

www.myows.com

It registers when you saved it and a copyright is really only about dates when it comes to a design. If you can prove that you did it first, then you should win.