Should You Copyright or Trademark Your Business Name?
Short answer: you trademark a business name. Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases, and the U.S. Copyright Office will refuse to register them. If you want the legal right to stop a competitor from using a confusingly similar name, the tool for that job is a federal trademark registration through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
I get this question almost every week, usually from an owner who has already spent money on a logo and a website and wants to make sure nobody can take the name. It is a good instinct. The confusion comes from the fact that copyright and trademark both fall under the umbrella of intellectual property, and both can touch the same brand. They just protect different things.
What copyright actually protects
Copyright protects original creative works fixed in a tangible form: written text, photographs, illustrations, music, video, and software. Your website copy is copyrightable. The photographs on your product pages are copyrightable. The artwork in your logo can be copyrightable as a visual work, separate from the words in it.
What copyright does not do is protect the name itself. The Copyright Office's own guidance, Circular 33, lists "names, titles, and short phrases" among the things it will not register, no matter how clever or distinctive they are. So a copyright registration for your logo artwork gives you a claim against someone who copies the drawing, but it gives you nothing against someone who opens a shop two towns over using your name in a different font.
What a trademark protects
A trademark is a source identifier. It tells customers that goods or services come from you and not from someone else. Your business name, your product names, your logo, and your slogan can all function as trademarks. Trademark law is what lets you object when a competitor's name is close enough to confuse customers.
Trademark rights in the United States start with use, so a business that has been operating under a name has some common-law rights in the area where it actually does business. Federal registration is what turns those local, hard-to-prove rights into a nationwide asset. A registration on the Principal Register gives you a legal presumption that you own the mark and have the exclusive right to use it nationwide for the goods and services listed, it puts the country on notice of your claim, it lets you use the registered symbol, and it lets the USPTO refuse later applications that are confusingly similar to yours.
Trademark and copyright work is federal, which means I handle it for clients anywhere in the United States, not only in Connecticut.
Where the two overlap
A logo is the common overlap. The design can be registered with the Copyright Office as artwork, and the same design can be registered with the USPTO as a trademark. The copyright side helps if someone copies the picture. The trademark side helps if someone uses a similar picture to sell similar things. Most small businesses put the trademark first, because the trademark is what protects the customer relationship.
The other overlap is ownership. If a freelance designer drew your logo, the designer owns the copyright in that artwork unless a written agreement assigns it to you. That is a contract problem, and it is worth fixing before you file the trademark, because the USPTO application asks who owns the mark.
What it costs
I quote flat fees so there are no surprises. The government fees are passed through at cost.
USPTO filing fee: $350 per class of goods or services for an electronically filed application, under the fee schedule that took effect January 18, 2025. The USPTO adds surcharges if an application leaves out required information or uses a custom description of goods that is not in its identification manual, which is one reason careful drafting matters.
Full search plus filing: $2,050 attorney fee. That includes the $150 engagement retainer, a state and common-law search, a federal USPTO search, application drafting, and post-filing support.
Filing only, no search: $1,650 attorney fee, for owners who have already cleared the name.
Search only: $1,025, a clearance and risk assessment before you commit to a name.
Copyright registration for a single work by a single author: $450 attorney fee plus the $45 Copyright Office fee, if you also want the logo artwork or your website content registered.
The engagement retainer is paid once per client and credited toward the total, and balances can be split into monthly payments.
How the trademark process works
Clearance search. Before filing, we look for existing registrations, pending applications, and unregistered uses that could block you or lead to a dispute. Skipping this step is the most expensive mistake I see.
Choose the format. A standard character mark protects the words in any style. A design mark protects a specific logo. Most first filings are standard character marks.
File the application. The application identifies the owner, the mark, the goods or services, and the basis for filing, either current use in commerce or a bona fide intent to use.
Respond to any office action. An examining attorney may raise issues, from small procedural fixes to a refusal based on a similar existing mark. Responses are due within three months.
Registration and maintenance. After registration, a declaration of continued use is due between the fifth and sixth year, and renewals follow every ten years.
A simple way to decide
If the thing you are worried about is someone using your name, file a trademark. If the thing you are worried about is someone copying your writing, photos, or artwork, register the copyright. If you are worried about both, which is common for a brand with a distinctive logo, do the trademark first and add the copyright registration for the artwork.
You can read more about the two services on my trademark registration and copyright protection pages.
Frequently asked questions
Can I copyright my business name?
No. The U.S. Copyright Office does not register names, titles, slogans, or other short phrases, because they do not contain enough original authorship. A business name is protected as a trademark, which is a different body of law with its own federal registration through the USPTO.
What is the difference between the TM symbol and the R in a circle?
TM signals that you claim rights in a name or logo, and anyone can use it, registered or not. The R in a circle may only be used after the USPTO has actually registered the mark. Using the registered symbol on an unregistered mark can hurt you later, so I tell clients to wait for the certificate.
Should I trademark my logo, my name, or both?
Usually the name first, filed as a standard character mark, because it protects the words in any font, color, or design. A logo filing protects that specific design. Many businesses file the name first and add the logo once the branding is settled, and the artwork itself can also be registered with the Copyright Office as a visual work.
Talk it through, no charge
If you are not sure which protection fits your business, I am happy to look at your name and your goals and tell you plainly what I would do. You can book a free consultation or call (860) 834-1582, and there is no obligation to hire me afterward.
This article is general information about United States trademark, copyright, and Connecticut contract law. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Your situation may differ, so please talk with an attorney before acting on anything here.
