Legal Question in Intellectual Property in North Carolina

Re: Copyright and/or Trademark

It sounds like both apply. You can try to learn about the application procedure at USPTO.gov and the Library of Congress sites. I practice IP law and can assist you if you wish.

Re: Copyright and/or Trademark

Copyrights apply to the written expression (i.e. the text) of your newsletter. The process of obtaining a copyright is relatively inexpensive and straightforward.

Regarding your logo, trademark protection MAY apply, depending upon a number of factors, including how you are using the logo.

Re: Copyright and/or Trademark

The content of your newsletter would be protected by copyright law and the logo MAY be protected by trademark law. the most important issues when deciding if you should file for copyright and or trademark protection are 1) what is your marketing budget/strategies? and 2) what is your circulation?....for example, if you are currently spending $500 a year on marketing (and are not planning a large increase) than it is proably not worth the money to file for trademark protection or copyright registration....if you plan on spending a good deal of money marketing then you may want to consider a trademark filing...also, even if you are not spending a good deal of money marketng but have a large circulation you may want to consider a tradeamrk clearance so you do not get sued. the cost to file a federal trademark in 1 class (which is probably what you would need) is as low as $275 if you do it yourself...attorneys will usually charge anywhere from $600-$1000 to file. the copyriht application is $45 if you do it yourself ....most attorneys would charge around $200-300.....hope this helped. feel free to call with any questions.

Re: Copyright and/or Trademark

Trademark protects the good name of a business (here, the business of writing, publishing and distributing a newsletter); copyright protects the written content of the newsletter.

Please give my office a call if you need further help with this matter.

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