In the legal sense, this term focuses on protecting the creative achievements of creators and the product and service marks of enterprises. There are significant differences between the two in terms of the goals, scope, procedures and duration of legal protection.
Copyright and trademark are two different forms of intellectual property. The differences between them are mainly reflected in the following aspects: Protection object Copyright (or copyright): What is protected is original literature, art and science Works, including but not limited to books, articles, music, paintings, sculptures, software codes, movies, dramas, photography and other forms of creative expression.
Trademark: It protects a unique sign used in commerce to distinguish the source of goods or services, including words, graphics, letters, numbers, three-dimensional shapes, color combinations, sounds and any combination of the above elements, that is, a trademark logo. Application agency: Copyright In China, copyright is usually registered through the National Copyright Administration or its designated copyright registration center, but copyright is automatically generated when the work is completed. Registration is not a prerequisite for obtaining copyright, but it can help provide preliminary evidence when resolving disputes. .
Trademark: In China, trademark registration is the responsibility of the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. Trademark rights must go through strict registration procedures to obtain, following the "first to apply" principle. Rights content and function: Copyright gives the author a series of exclusive rights, such as reproduction rights, distribution rights, performance rights, screening rights, broadcast rights, adaptation rights, etc. Copyright aims to protect the content and expression form of the work from infringement.
Trademark: The holder of trademark rights has the right to prohibit others from using the same or similar marks as their registered trademark on the same or similar goods/services to prevent confusion of market sources and maintain goodwill and brand value.
Period of protection: Under normal circumstances, the copyright protection term of an individual author is his or her lifetime plus a number of years after death (50 years in China). The copyright protection term of a legal person or other organization is from the first publication of the work. Counted from the date of publication to a number of years (also 50 years in China).
Trademark: The protection period of trademark right is 10 years. After expiration, you can continue to enjoy the trademark right through renewal. In theory, it can be renewed indefinitely, as long as the trademark owner pays the renewal fee on time and meets the relevant conditions. . Acquisition method and cost: Copyright is automatically generated when the creation is completed, and no special application is required to obtain copyright. Although copyright registration can help prove the ownership of the rights, it is not mandatory, and the one-time fee for copyright registration is low and is valid for a long time. .
Trademark: Trademarks need to be reviewed and passed the registration process before they can obtain legal protection. This process may be long and involve costs. After successful registration, it needs to be renewed regularly to maintain the validity of the trademark.