COPYRIGHT LAW

Once you put a concept into a tangible form, it automatically gains federal copyright protection. However, formally registering your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office provides substantial advantages when fighting infringers. 

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Copyright Lawyer

Rosenthal IP Law, Your Experienced New Jersey Copyright Law Firm

Copyright law protects your literary creations and works of art so you can control how the work is used and distributed. The purpose of copyright law is to encourage people to create new works of art and literature. 


You do not need to do anything special to get copyright protection -- it is automatic when the work is fixed into a tangible medium of expression. The work must be written down or made into a physical form that the someone can identify, either directly or with the help of a machine. Some examples are the audio tapes or cd's, stories printed, or film. The copyright is only attached to your work after it is documented. Copyright does not protect your ideas or facts you have researched. Copyright does not protect speech that is not transcribed, live performances of music, or broadcasts that are not recorded. 

Copyright gives you the following protections: 

The exclusive right to...



  • make copies of the work 
  • sell or distribute copies of the work 
  • create new works based on the original work 
  • perform the work in public 
Speak with an IP lawyer now

Copyright

Law

Sometimes, you may not own the copyright to your artistic work, even though you created it. This may happen in an employer/employee situation or when you are an independent contractor creating a “work made for hire.” You may also be a joint copyright owner with another person if you both contributed to the creation of the work. 

For more info, speak to our copyright law specialists at
(908) 408.3832 or visit our contact page.

Can a copyright be sold or transferred?


A copyright can be transferred, or you may sell your copyright to another person or business. You may assign or transfer some, or all, of your ownership interest in your copyright. You may use your copyright as security for a loan or mortgage, and may pass it on to another person at the time of your death, either in your will or by intestate succession. A copyright can also be involuntarily taken from you by court order in certain situations, such as through bankruptcy, a property division in a divorce or through a mortgage foreclosure. 


The length of time your work is protected depends on when the work was published and the laws that applied at the time it was published. For instance, works published in the US before 1923 are not protected by copyright. They are considered in the public domain. Works published after 1922 but before 1978 are protected for 95 years from the date of publication. Generally, works published after 1978 are protected for the life of the author, plus 70 years.

A work is considered “published” when you make it available to the public on an unrestricted basis. If you display the work but place many restrictions on what can be done with it, then the work may not have been published.


Registration of your copyright is easy. Please contact us for more information about how we can help you register or protect your copyrights.

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"We could not hold Larry in higher regard. To have found an attorney that was not only a top-shelf legal practitioner, but also capable of providing legal services in the context of sound business practice was a tall ask. Larry consistently delivered clear, concise legal advice and performance that always exceeded expectations. We have used Larry exclusively and have recommended him without hesitation to our closest business partners."​​​

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Learn More About IP Law, Intellectual Property and Trademark Law in Our Library

This is a resource of information regarding IP Law for lawyers, entrepreneurs, business owners, and visionaries as well as anyone looking to learn about Intellectual Property IP Law, Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights and so much more.

Larry Rosenthal is a sought after IP Law and Trademark attorney with years of extensive experience helping businesses, entrepreneurs, startups and so many more protect their ideas, products, brands, and designs.


For the best option of protection, Call Us Today!   

908-666-4663

  • What is Intellectual Property?

    Intellectual property is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The most well-known types are copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets.

  • Why intellectual property law?

    The main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a wide variety of intellectual goods. To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time.

  • How intellectual property is protected?


  • Trademark, copyright, and patent: what's the difference?


  • When to protect intellectual property?


We Can Help,

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The Best Way to Protect Your Future Is to Take Action Now

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IP Law News

Rosenthal IP LAW

5 Common Trademark Mistakes Small Businesses Make (and How to Avoid Them)

By Larry Rosenthal • September 23, 2026
Urgent

Trademark Infringement: What to Do If Another Business Uses Your Brand Name

By Larry Rosenthal • September 14, 2026
Say you run a coffee shop called "Morning Ritual," and then a new café across town opens up as "Morning Rituals." Customers start mixing the two up online, tagging the wrong shop in reviews, showing up at the wrong location for a promotion you never ran. That mix-up isn't just annoying; it's the exact kind of consumer confusion trademark law exists to prevent. The question is what to actually do about it, and that depends on getting a few things right before you pick up the phone. Step One: Make Sure It's Actually Infringement Not every similar name is a legal problem. Before doing anything else, it's worth asking: Does the other mark sound, look, or read similarly to yours? Is it being used for the same or related goods and services? Would a typical customer plausibly confuse the two? If those answers point toward "yes," you likely have a legitimate case. If the businesses operate in unrelated industries, or serve genuinely separate markets, there may be no infringement at all, and pursuing it burns time and legal fees for nothing. Build Your Record First Once you're confident it's a real conflict, start collecting proof before reaching out: screenshots of their website, social posts, packaging, or ads, etc. Make sure you record the date you captured the evidence and save it. If this ends up going further than a polite email, you'll want that record intact. (If you think this might go to court, an attorney should forensically capture this information.) The Cease-and-Desist Letter Comes Next This is the standard opening move in nearly every trademark dispute. A good cease-and-desist letter identifies your registered mark, explains specifically why the other party's use creates a problem, and requests that they stop, typically within a set timeframe. Keep the tone firm but professional rather than combative. It's entirely possible the other business had no idea your mark existed when they picked their name, and a measured letter resolves more disputes than an aggressive one. Attorneys generally draft these rather than business owners doing it solo, mostly because getting the legal language and scope right matters if the letter ends up as evidence later. If the Letter Doesn't Land Sometimes it works. Sometimes it's ignored entirely. When that happens, litigation becomes the real option. To win a trademark infringement suit, you typically need to establish three things: that you hold a valid registered mark or are otherwise the Senior User (i.e., have earlier rights in the trademark than the other party), that the other party is using an identical or confusingly similar mark on similar goods or services, and that the use is actually causing confusion or diluting your brand’s distinctiveness. Courts don’t take a plaintiff’s word for that confusion, either. They apply structured, multi-factor tests to evaluate it. The Second Circuit's approach, first laid out in Polaroid Corp. v. Polarad Electronics Corp., 287 F.2d 492 (2d Cir. 1961) , weighs things like the strength of your mark, how similar the two marks actually are, how close the products or services sit to each other, and any evidence of real-world confusion among customers. Most circuits apply some version of this multi-factor analysis, and while the specific factors shift slightly by jurisdiction, the underlying question stays the same everywhere: would a reasonable consumer actually be confused? What Winning Actually Gets You If a court sides with you, the most common outcome is an injunction, a binding order requiring the other business to stop using the mark. Depending on how the infringement happened and how deliberate it was, courts can also award financial damages covering lost profits and possibly legal costs, and in cases involving outright counterfeiting, criminal penalties can come into play too. Know When to Let It Go Worth remembering: some overlap genuinely isn't infringement. Comparative advertising and legitimate news reporting can qualify for fair use protection, and two businesses with similar names in clearly distinct markets sometimes just coexist without either side having a real claim against the other. If you're staring down a name conflict and can't tell whether it's worth pursuing, that's exactly the kind of question worth getting a real answer to before spending money on a letter or a lawsuit. Contact Rosenthal IP Law today to schedule a consultation, and let's figure out where you actually stand.
Clock

The Hidden Cost of Waiting Too Long to Register Your Trademark

By Larry Rosenthal • August 28, 2026
I often hear a common refrain: “I've been using this name for years, and nobody’s said anything, so I’m probably fine.” I understand that logic. But eventually, I get a phone call from that same business owner, and it is rarely a happy one. Another situation companies face is where they wait too long to file an application to register their trademark, only to find out that another company (that started using the same or a similar trademark at a later date) already filed an application. Common Law Rights Only Get You So Far Using a trademark does grant what are known as common law trademark rights. The problem is that these rights are geographically limited; they only protect you in the specific market where you’ve been doing business, not across the entire country. A federal registration with the USPTO provides a presumption of nationwide priority, the right to use the ® symbol instead of just ™, and a much stronger position in case of a dispute. While waiting to register a trademark does not negate your common law rights, it does leave the door open for someone else to claim rights in that same or a similar trademark elsewhere. What This Actually Costs You Filing a federal trademark application costs a few hundred dollars per product or service. This is a small price compared to the expenses of a forced rebrand, which includes new signage, packaging, and marketing, as well as the awkward task of explaining the name change to existing customers. Additionally, legal expenses incurred from responding to cease-and-desist letters can turn into an expensive procrastination habit. There’s also a quieter cost that often goes unbudgeted: lost search rankings, decreased web traffic, and a weaker position when trying to address copycat issues online. An unregistered mark leaves you with far fewer tools for enforcement. Your Filing Date Is Your Friend Here’s an unexpected advantage: your legal priority is established on the day you file, not when you receive the registration certificate (which can take 12 months or more, given USPTO timelines). Filing locks in your position in line nationwide. Generally, everyone who files after you is already behind you, registration or no registration. Therefore, it’s legally counterproductive to say, “I’ll wait until things calm down.” Don’t Let “Later” Become “Too Late” If a trademark registration is on your to-do list alongside “organize the garage,” I recommend moving it to the top of your priority list. Filing early is cheaper, stronger, and considerably less dramatic than waiting. If you’re a business owner seeking a trademark attorney or are currently involved in a dispute, Rosenthal IP Law is a trademark law firm that handles these matters daily, including application filings, oppositions, cancellations, and everything in between. Contact Rosenthal IP Law today to schedule a consultation on registering your trademark before someone else acts first, leaving you in a weaker position.
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