Squishmallows vs Build-A-Bear: are you covered by your copyrights?

Avoid committing copyright infringement:

Do your research: before launching a new product, design, or company name, take a deep dive into any worst-case scenarios that may arise. Spend some time researching any companies that may potentially take issue with your new concept, and think about how you can avoid challenges. This is paramount in helping you avoid unintentional infringement and costly legal battles down the line.

Focus on originality: it may seem like easy work to piggyback on someone else’s success, but too many similarities will only create a lifetime of media and potential customers scrutinising and comparing your products. Without a distinctive USP, value proposition or alternative brand identity to tie your new products to, you risk simply looking like a cheap knock-off, and losing any customer trust you might have gained ethically. 

Prevent your company from being infringed:

Know the basics of copyright law: Infringement laws can be tricky to navigate. For example, registering a work is not mandatory (as copyright exists on original works automatically once it is published in the UK), but may be necessary to enforce your rights in court if no other methods of proof are available. 

Ideas in your head are not protected on their own; only the ways they are expressed in material form are protected. 

Somewhat annoying, it is actually perfectly legal for someone to register your company name as long as it’s in a different industry: for example, Soprano Violins and Soprano Delivery.

Choose the best form of protection for your assets: Copyright is not the only form of protection, and is not the best option in all cases – it really depends on what type of content you’ve created. Copyrights are for written works, for example – trademarks are typically for things like unique company names, and patents are mostly for inventions. Choosing the right one could be the difference between winning and losing if someone tries to infringe on your style, even if you were first, in a court of law.

A copyrighted or patented product, design or business name can also be a tangible asset that adds more value to your business in the eyes of angel investors and venture capitalists.

Monitor your space: You don’t have to make it into your whole life, but it’s a good idea to monitor your competitors and marketplace trends from time to time. With trademarks in particular, you can set up alerts for whenever anyone wants to register a similar name to yours in a similar space, and you will be allowed first dibs on whether you want to challenge their request or not. Keep an eye out, and you should be able to address any potential threats proactively (with a cease and desist for example) to protect your business interests before anything gets too far down the line.