You can have both a trademark and a patent, though they won't be for exactly the same thing. A trademark can protect a creation's name, for example, and a patent can protect the actual creation itself.
Trade marks will protect your brand, but not the invention of the thing you're providing using this brand. If the way your invention works is an important feature of your business, then a patent application may be a valuable form of protection for your business.
A trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services. It's how customers recognize you in the marketplace and distinguish you from your competitors.
Patents are intended to protect inventions of a functional or design nature. Trademarks provide protection for indicators of the source of products and services used in commercial trade, such as words or logos. Copyrights provide protection for literary and artistic expressions.
How to File a Patent in Utah Create a prototype. Write out every aspect of the invention in words. Make drawings of the invention. Build a prototype of the invention. Test out the prototype and make improvements to it. Consider all the variations of the invention.
The Coca-Cola Corp owns the trademark to the name Coca-Cola, as well as the trademark on the bottle shape, and the graphic representation of their name. These are all things that help distinguish them from other cola brands and define their individual product. Coca-Cola also owns the patent on their formula.
In short, a patent protects the new and innovative function, method, or the workings of a thing. In other words, patents protect ideas and concepts, whereas registered trade marks protect your brand.
The TM symbol is used when an application for trademark is made with the trademark registry. The TM symbol is thus used to indicate the fact that a trademark application exists with respect to the trademark and serves as a warning for infringers and counter-fitters.
Trademark process Step 1: Is a trademark application right for you? ... Step 2: Get ready to apply. Step 3: Prepare and submit your application. Step 4: Work with the assigned USPTO examining attorney. Step 5: Receive approval/denial of your application. Step 6: Maintain your registration.