Copyright Law in Rochester, NY

Greater Rochester Enterprise offers an extensive list of business incentives to local entrepreneurs. Tax credits and other programs can help you build the empire of your dreams.

One area you have to handle completely on your own is your intellectual property portfolio. Managing applications, pursuing imitators, and maintaining your rights are critical tasks. They also involve areas of the law you may not have considered before starting your company. Start understanding the full breadth of your needs today with the material in this article.

What Is Copyright Registration?

Copyright registration offers the author of a piece of work in Rochester, New York some protection from those who try to steal their idea.

A novel creation receives copyright protection when it becomes fixed into a tangible form. Copyright law dictates how to establish this ownership. Additionally, it explains how to register intellectual property or defend against infringement.

Copyright registration is a type of public record for ownership. A piece of work doesn’t require copyright registration for protection under the US copyright law. However, you should register your product in Rochester, NY with the help of a copyright lawyer, as this can offer you several unique advantages:

• Protects your work against the importation of copies that infringe the registration. Your registration will be recorded with the United States Customs and Border Protection.
• If your work is already registered in the United States, you can proceed with an infringement lawsuit; otherwise, you will have to register it first.
• The IP owner can seek damages and attorney fees if a copyright registration happens within three months of publication (or prior to an infringement claim).
• If a copyrighted work becomes registered outside of the three-month time frame, you may seek actual damages that you lost.
• Copyright registration will identify each public record of its existence. This action puts the copyright protection into public notice for the piece of work that you’ve created and/or own.

What Is a Trademark?

A trademark is a word, symbol, design, or phrase that distinguishes you from another company. Service marks are a type of trademark that a company will use when providing services to the public. Technically, trademarks are a form of intellectual property. It also forms part of the company’s brand, even if they no longer use it.

Here are some of the components that established Rochester, NY business people and brand owners often trademark:

• Logos
• Symbols
• Product packages
• Name of the business
• Name of the product or service
• Designs

The New York Department of State registers trademarks or service marks for companies in Rochester. There is a $50 fee for each class you claim. While this cost can add up for some, the registration is active for the next ten years. Many states in the U.S. only offer five years for this legal protection.

How Long Does It Take to Register a Trademark and Copyright?

Business owners from Rochester can start evaluating their wait time by looking at the trademarks data. This detail comes directly from the processing times achieved by USPTO staff and examining attorneys. During the second quarter of 2022, the first office action after an application took 7.7 months. In the last three years, the process from start to finish increased from 10 months to 13.5.

Registering a copyright can also involve months of fretting over the final decision. As claimed by the U.S. Copyright Office, most of their applications take 3.6 months to resolve. If there are issues to address, some cases will need 13.1 months to finish.

What’s the Difference Between a Trademark and a Copyright?

The value of your Rochester, NY business depends on the assets it owns. It’s important to note that the most valuable assets are not always physical or financial. Your intellectual property counts as assets too. Due to this, if people use those assets without your permission, you can file a lawsuit for infringement.

While trademarks and copyrights protect intellectual property, they cover two different aspects. Copyright registration protects artistic and literary works, such as videos and books. A trademark registration protects brand components. This can be a jingle, a logo, or a mascot of your organization.

Take, for example, if you own a magazine publishing company. You would trademark the logo and the name of your company. However, you would also place copyright protection on all the magazines that you have published.

Work With an Experienced Rochester, New York Copyright Lawyer

Do you have an idea that needs protection under intellectual property law? If so, complete the registration process as soon as possible. There is always the risk that someone else might beat you to it. This eventuality can create complications when the time comes to defend IP rights claims.

An experienced Rochester, NY copyright lawyer can help you uncover if anyone else has registered a similar idea. If your concept closely resembles another, it might get rejected. Consequently, it is better to find this early than to go through the process only to get denied later. In addition, an intellectual property lawyer will help you to draft critical documents. Or, they can determine the value of the intellectual property that you own.

An intellectual property lawyer also assesses the quality of the assets. They will also look at the number of assets licensed under your name or your business in Rochester, NY. This evaluation can help to maximize the entire value of all intangible assets that your company has.

Are you ready to tap into our network of Rochester copyright attorneys  that can guide you through every step? We can even help you connect with an attorney across New York state lines. 

Submit a request online or call us today at (866) 345-6784 to get in touch with an experienced lawyer in your area!