Copyright/trademark

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Some things simply can't be copyrighted. Like a song title. Look up songs titled "Sail Away" and you will find several, and all are quite different.

Movie titles or book titles are the same way. Anyone can write a book now called "50 shades of Grey" and as long it uses no charterer like in the other book, and is a book with no plot points like the, it is fine. Someone can make a movie called Star Wars, and as long as no Jedi knights and plot points are the same, it is OK.

Some things are protected by international trademark. The Olympic rings are trademarked and you can't use them in anything except official Olympic sanctioned events.

There is no such thing as an international trademark, or an international patent.

Each country deals with IP differently (or chooses not to... did someone say China?). A trademark or patent is only good in the jurisdiction in which it is registered (or used) or granted in the case of patents.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

You should have told them to 'pound sand' you cant copyright a word, not even a made up one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/08/14/ohio-state-university-wants-trademark-its-favorite-word/
Aug 14, 2019 · Marc Jacobs, the apparel company, beat Ohio State to the punch when it comes to that three-letter word. Its application for “THE”

https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/um-colors-sun-and-blue
You can trademark a color, but it's difficult. The University of Michigan has the color 'maize' trademarked for certain uses, presumably, which is why they were able to credibly go after Budweiser when they tried to sell maize & blue cans of Bud Light or whatever that was last year.

(I believe the shades/hues/whatever of the colors are also trademarked)

https://www.snopes.com/news/2015/09/22/happy-birthday-public-domain/
Sep 22, 2015 · “Happy Birthday to You” had reportedly been generating some $2 million in royalties per year for Warner/Chappell Music. The next step in the case will be to determine if Warner/Chappell must return...

https://gizmodo.com/someone-tried-to-trademark-the-term-september-11-2001-1606092222
Sep 11, 2001 · A businessman named Moti Shniberg actually tried to trademark the term "September 11, 2001." And he wasted no time doing so — Shniberg filed his application on that very day, as the Twin Towers and...

[unclebilly]

^^^ um those are trademarks. The post I was referring to was where ‘haircuttery’ was allegedly copyrighted.

It turns out that copyrights and trademarks are NOT the same thing. Perhaps you should research that.

You can’t copyright a word, you can however use it as a trademark and even register it in a defined scope of trade uses.

Myself, a patent engineer, and a PhD patent lawyer put on a lecture at a local technical college on IP a few years ago. I’d be happy to share some of the content from our presentation if there is interest. We covered off the different types of IP, the advantages and disadvantages of trade secrets and patents, the patent process, etc.

[drcoastline]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

^^^ um those are trademarks. The post I was referring to was where ‘haircuttery’ was allegedly copyrighted.

It turns out that copyrights and trademarks are NOT the same thing. Perhaps you should research that.

You can’t copyright a word, you can however use it as a trademark and even register it in a defined scope of trade uses.

Myself, a patent engineer, and a PhD patent lawyer put on a lecture at a local technical college on IP a few years ago. I’d be happy to share some of the content from our presentation if there is interest. We covered off the different types of IP, the advantages and disadvantages of trade secrets and patents, the patent process, etc.

I would be interested in knowing more if you would like to share? This has interested me for some time.