There are 45 categories of trademarks, of which goods and services each account for some categories. The most direct way for enterprises to fully protect their trademarks is to adopt full category registration, but the cost of full category registration of trademarks is too high, which may not be suitable for some start-ups in general. But if you don't apply in all categories, others can use the same trademark in other categories.
Copyright has nothing to do with the goods carrying the works, and copyright protection can be obtained without registration, so the cost of protecting a design with copyright is relatively low. But at the same time, the limitations of copyright are obvious. First of all, simple words cannot constitute works in the sense of copyright law, and simple graphics cannot be protected by copyright.
When the copyright is infringed, the obligee must provide evidence to prove that he is the copyright owner and enjoys the copyright. If it is difficult for the copyright owner to prove that he is the creator of the work or the successor of the right, it will cause great difficulty for the right holder to claim the right. Copyright registration system was established to solve these problems. If the obligee registers the copyright after the creation of the work, he only needs to show the certificate issued by the registration center when giving evidence, which will generally be recognized by the court or relevant authorities.
Trademarks and patents are intellectual property rights in the traditional sense, which are regional and strictly territorial. Domestic trademarks and patents have no effect abroad and need to be reapplied. In addition, both of them have timeliness, the difference is that trademarks can be extended indefinitely, and after the patent expires, they will become social free technology.
For product designs with relatively complex product designs and large trademark patterns, in addition to labeling products, we should also apply for trademarks and patents to protect the strength and scope to the maximum extent.
The legal basis of trademark right and design patent right is different, and the protection period of the two rights is also different. Trademark rights can be obtained by applying for renewal, which can be extended indefinitely in theory, while design patents have a time limit. Where the term of protection of the patent right for a design expires, the design may be registered as a trademark by a person other than the patent right.