Ensure Online Signature Legality for Trademark Assignment Agreement in Canada

How to eSign a document: online signature legality for Trademark Assignment Agreement in Canada

The Trademark Shop specializes in preregistration strategizing, helping you craft your brand from the outset, and custom drafting of your application to register a trademark so you know you have the strongest trademark possible. Trademarks are more important than ever in the internet age and that requires businesses and organizations to be more proactive about protecting their brand. This introduction is designed to answer common questions about how trademarks work, how to register a trademark, and other useful information to get you started on your way. Trademarks, patents and copyrights are all forms of legal protection that fall under the umbrella of intellectual property law which protect creations of the mind. All three are administered by an agency of the federal government called the Canadian Intellectual Property Office or CIPO. Trademarks protect brands: Words, brand names, logos and even sounds that allow you to distinguish particular goods or services from others in the marketplace Any special element that you used to promote and distinguish the products you sell to the public can be a trademark. Just as a marriage can be registered officially or remain common-law so can a trademark. This means that a trademark exists as soon as you begin to use it. But a common law trademark does not offer the same legal protection as a registered trademark. For this reason, many people choose to register their trademarks. Patents protect new and useful inventions. This means that the invention must be different from any previous invention and must have a useful function. The invention must also be non-obvious, such that it is the result of an inventive spark and someone with technical expertise would see it as a new development in the field. Patent protection gives the inventor an exclusive right to make, use and sell the invention in Canada for a limited period of time which is 20 years from the time the patent application is first submitted to CIPO's patent office. In exchange, the inventor is required to disclose the technical secrets behind the patent. so the public may benefit and build on this new knowledge. Patents are regulated by the Patent Act. You can choose not to register a patent to protect your invention and simply keep its description and technical information secret. The invention is then known as a trade secret. However, if someone else independently invents or discovers your unregistered invention or trade secret, there's nothing that you can do to prevent that person from applying for a patent, selling the invention, or publishing the technical information. Copyrights are regulated by the Copyright Act. Copyright protects original ideas in art, music, photography, theatre, film, television, literature and even computer programming. Copyright is literally the right to copy. As the creator of an original literary, dramatic, artistic or musical work, you own the copyright in that work exclusively. In other words, you're the only one who has the right to use what you created. Anyone wanting to copy your work by way of reproduction, performance or exhibition, needs to first get your permission. A work is under copyright protection the moment it's created and fixed in a tangible form. This means that the moment you write it, paint it, or put it on the internet, your work is copyright protected. A copyright and a trademark can coexist. For example, the Toronto Blue Jays' mascot, a blue jay named Ace, is a trademark in its business context, but is also protected under copyright law as an original artwork or creation of the mind. You can find more information on our website (Trademarkshop.ca) If you have to a specific question, we're always happy to answer.