Trademarks Attorney in The Woodlands, Texas

Intellectual property is an intangible thing and can be a confusing concept. Intellectual property refers to an idea expressed in words and/or images that is original and belongs to the person who created it. Trademarks, copyrights, and patents are all types of legal protections for different types of intellectual property. Anyone can create and use their own intellectual property, but to be able to enforce your right to be the only person or business able to use the intellectual property, it must be properly registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in some local jurisdictions such as Texas, with the Secretary of State.

The legal protections afforded to intellectual property are copyright, patent, and trademarks. A copyright is the protection of original artistic, literary, or intellectually created works, such as paintings, novels, music, or software code. A patent is legal protection for technical inventions such as machinery, chemical compositions, or industrial designs. A trademark or service mark is the protection you would get for a word, phrase, design, or combination, the purpose of which is to identify the goods or services, distinguish them from others, and indicate the source.

A trademark is defined as a word, name, symbol, device, or any combination of those terms, used by a person to identify and distinguish the person's goods from the goods manufactured or sold by another; and to indicate the source of the goods. Similarly, a service mark is defined as a word, name, symbol, device, or any combination of those terms, used by a person to identify and distinguish the services of one person from the services of another; and to indicate the source of the services, under Texas law. Broadly speaking, the "mark" is something that identifies your goods or services and how customers recognize and distinguish what you are selling from any competitors.

When you have a trademark, it identifies your goods and services to the world and helps to protect you against counterfeiting and fraud. Just by using the mark in commerce, you already have common law ownership rights to the mark in connection to the goods and services. However, it is a good idea to register your mark with official government agencies to gain the legal presumption that you have the exclusive right to use the mark. A registered trademark provides legal protection for your brand's goods or services, and it is very important if you are considering filing a claim against an imitator.

When you register your mark with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the registration gives notice to everyone in the United States about your claim of ownership of the mark. Registration with the USPTO makes sense for businesses that participate in interstate commerce.