International Trademark Protection vs. Copyright: Understanding the Differences

When you operate your business overseas, you want to know that all your intellectual property is protected. Trademarks cover your brand name, product names, and even your company tagline or slogan. Similarly, copyright law means that your designs and content can’t be used without your consent.

Understanding the difference between international trademark protection and copyright can help you understand when you need to register a trademark and why.

What Is International Trademark Protection?

Your company name — or sole trader/influencer name — is your unique identifier in the market you operate in. It helps you stand out from competitors and, with the right marketing, can attract your ideal target audience.

If you operate overseas, you need to know that your name and any associated slogans are protected. In most cases, you can do this by investing in international trademark registration. A trusted partner will help you check that your trademarks aren’t already in use in the designated country. They’ll help you apply for the trademark and do everything they can to avoid any potential pitfalls. They may also offer you trademark infringement monitoring services, to quickly identify when someone is trying to use your names and other protected terms or phrases without consent.

This is international trademark protection and helps protect you from financial and reputational damage in foreign countries.

What Is Copyright?

Copyright is a little different. It literally means “the right to copy.” In other words, when you create something, you have the right to copy and use that — but nobody else does. Intellectual property (IP) that can be copyrighted includes:

• Art
• Literature — most written content can be copyrighted
• Music and other types of audio recordings
• Poetry
• Photography
• Architecture
• Code snippets if they are entirely unique

There are many misconceptions about copyright, such as the notion that you can copyright an idea. Unfortunately, you do need to have used that idea to create something before you can consider it copyrightable.

Key Differences Between the Two

Trademarks are registered via a trademark registration process, which is different in every country. Many countries are covered by the Madrid Protocol, which allows applicants to register trademarks in multiple countries at once. However, even these countries have their own individual laws and regulations regarding trademark application.

Copyright is generally accepted as being in existence once something has been created by the owner. However, enforcing that copyright can become challenging if there’s no proof of this. In the United States, it’s possible to register copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. For other countries, there are different processes and policies surrounding copyright. These include how long copyright lasts, what it restricts (such as fair usage versus zero usage), and the penalties incurred for breaches of copyright.

Which Should You Invest In?

If you’re operating internationally, it’s likely that you’ll need both registered copyrights and trademark registrations to protect your IP. Copyright registration in the necessary locations will help ensure no one can steal and use your product designs. You can also copyright product manuals and other support resources, although you should be wary of discouraging the formation of supportive communities around your brand. These can help promote your goods organically.

International trademark registration is always essential to prevent the misuse of your company’s name and associated terms overseas. Without it, you or your business could lose out financially or even find that your reputation has been damaged. If someone sells poor-quality, counterfeit goods with your name on, for example, you may end up being associated with the inferior products.

Both Copyright and Trademarks Matter

Registering for relevant copyrights and trademarks is an essential aspect of operating any sort of business internationally. Whether you’re an influencer starting your own line of cosmetics or an electronics manufacturer, you’ll need international trademarks to ensure your goods are only sold under your name by you and your subsidiaries. Seek expert assistance when registering international trademarks and ensure you’ve checked that your names don’t already exist in those regions. Investing in the right type of IP protection provides peace of mind — and could save you substantial amounts of money in the long term.