The owners of a federally registered mark can stop you from selling your products if the registration pre-dates your first use. A trademark clearance search is recommended before using a new mark. A federal registration protects your business' good will and advertising efforts. The enclosed Trademark Questionnaire will assist you in identifying your trademarks. Historically, copyrights protect films, books, musical scores and works of art.
Copyrights are relatively inexpensive to register and yet provide substantial benefits.
If any of these works are created by your employees in the scope of their employment, your business automatically owns the copyright. The enclosed Copyright Checklist will help you monitor your copyrights.