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Plagiarism is a huge problem for many businesses selling online. Despite the obvious implications such as losing profit to competitors, it can have disastrous effects on your online visibility and dilute your brand’s message.
Unfortunately for small businesses, protection laws can seem like a minefield. With so many legal routes and lots of confusing jargon, it’s difficult to know the best way to prevent it. In this article, I’ll show you the two most common types of legal protection, how they can help your ecommerce business, and share some tips and tricks for preventing copycats.
Key Takeaways🔍
- Legal protections stop your intellectual property (IP) from being plagiarized or misused. IP refers to anything unique your business has created, and includes anything from logos to product pictures.
- Some IP protections, such as copyrights, are automatically applied to your IP upon its creation, whereas others need to be manually applied for.
🚨This article provides a user-friendly breakdown of IP protection, and should not be taken as legal advice. If you are looking to take further action based on information in this piece, seek professional counsel beforehand.
Register Your Trademark
A trademark is the most important legal investment you should make for your business. It protects the IP that your brand is known for, or what differentiates it from other businesses – think logos, names, slogans, or jingles. It’s a good idea to register for one as soon as you know you’re serious about your business, since it prevents other businesses from stealing your ideas.
Top Tip: Consider the IP you want to trademark carefully before filing an application. If it contains generic language used to describe your products or services, or uses language already trademarked by other businesses, you won’t be able to register it.
Once you’re confident in your trademark, you’ll need to apply for registration through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Secure Copyright Protection
While a trademark protects IP attached to your brand, a copyright protects original works you create. For an ecommerce business, this could include:
- Product images and descriptions
- Images
- Videos
- Blog copy
- Marketing material
Copyrights help you to distinguish your brand from others and stop your products being replicated. They last for your lifetime and another 70 years after, and are automatically applied once your product is out in the world. However, you’ll have to officially register for copyright protection to be able to take legal action against infringements.
Good to Know: Copyrights aren’t as expensive as you might think – online registration costs $45 per work. You don’t need to register every piece of work, but it’s a good idea for anything notable and recognizable to your business.