Can the United states patent and trademark office copyright/trademark something in the UK?

[wardell]

I wanted to copyright/trademark something, i have been reserching about where i can copyright/trademark something and every site i've been on have said that the "United states patent and trademark office" is where you do copyright/trademark something but can you copyright on that site if you live in the United Kingdom?

[scirwode]

Whoa. Copyright and trademark are completely different laws. Copyright is almost universally recognized (160 countries and counting). Trademark laws are less harmonious. For instance you need not register a trademark in the USA in order to have protection, whereas most other countries require federal registration.

In most countries it's not necessary or even possible to register a copyright. Copyright is free, instantaneous and automatic from the time you write something down, take a picture, paint, type into computer memory, video onto tape, etc.

You may OPTIONALLY register your copyrighted work in the US Copyright Office, regardless of what country you live in.

You may also file a registration for a trademark in the USPTO if you plan to use it in the USA, and you can use your existing foreign registrations (if any) as priority references.

Your own federal laws will have the details on where and how to file a registration for trademark in your country, assuming you don't live in some backwater that cannot spell IP.

To contradict the extraneous answer about "patents" (which have nothing to do with either copyright or trademark), it is totally false that any court in any country is going to recognize any patent from another jurisdiction. If you want to sue for patent infringement in any country, you need a patent issued in that country (with the exception that European Union members recognize each others' patents). The PCT only offers an inventor the ability to file a single application, have a search done, and an optional international examination, AFTER which there is still a "national phase" required for each and every country/jurisdiction where an enforceable patent is desired. This includes filing any necessary fees, search and examination reports, translations and supplements, and appointment of local agent, by a specific date (typically within 30 months of initial filing), after which the national patent office in any country may still reject the application and refuse to issue any national patent.

[bocley]

Patents registered in the UK are automatically recognised in the US and vice versa. It is covered by the Patent Cooperation Treaty (1970). Most countries are signatories, so a patent registered in most countries is protected world-wide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_Cooperation_Treaty

[han]

The reason every site tells you to use the US system is because you've been looking at American sites. Every country has its own laws with regard to this sort of thing. I imagine the EU has its own rules as well.

[boyce]

Cleopatra:

You cal live in the UK and patent something in the USA! Read all the stuff below with snake eyed concentration!

Do you know about the Provisional Patent Application? It only costs $125 and was designed by Congress to give individual inventors a chance at bringing their inventive ideas to market easily. It is SUPER EASY to do..

To see the top 10 reasons to file a Provisional Patent Application please watch the second video in this blog.
http://www.filepatentapplications.com/blog/

If a provisional patent application looks like the right thing for you to do then take a look at another website that shows EXACTLY how to file one using a video format.
http://provisionalpatentvideo.com/

If you need to know how to get your product sold on TV or to Costco, or Home Depot, or Target and the like then you might also enjoy reading this information by the Ginsu Knife guy! It is pretty cool. He gives you all his contacts and personal email!
http://bit.ly/GinsuKnifeGuy1

Of course you could ALSO just go to the US Patent Office and figure out how to file a patent yourself. Here is the link..
http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/index.jsp
The flow chart there is pretty nice to give you an idea how to do what you want to do!

Their patent search is hard to use and you need special programs to look at the patents… Instead, consider using Google Patent Search!

Here is how you can use Google Patent Search to search for an "Oscillating inertial microbalance"
http://www.google.com/patents?id=M5GRAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA6&dq=Oscillating+inertial+microbalance&hl=en&ei=vrbGTvGeDoXhiAKWpfXxDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Just type the term you want to search for in the search box. Play with MANY variants of your inventive idea.

Also, for a more global patent search look here:
http://worldwide.espacenet.com/advancedSearch?locale=en_EP

Remember... Patents are MOSTLY "Improvements" on other inventions.. So, while you may see something SIMILAR to your inventive idea it does not mean that you cannot patent your IMPROVEMENT.. Example... A tire is an IMPROVEMENT on a wagon wheel. A radial biased ply tire is an IMPROVEMENT on a non radial biased tire. There are over 10,000 patents on tires... Nearly every single one is an improvement!

And… a special gift for you is a sample Non Disclosure (also called an NDA) that you would have folks sign when you show them your inventive idea. You can change it up and use others but if you have NOTHING now it is a very good start written by my lawyer who charged me a TON for it!
http://www.4lowprice.info/images/NDA_GeneralMutual.doc

For EXTRA credit take a look at getting a free website widget here. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING. Just use the FREE widget thing..
http://CBproAds.com/refer.asp?id=50245 It will allow you to put adverts to eBooks on nearly ANY subject. If you had a store that sells horse blankets then you would include a widget that featured an eBook on how to stop horses from biting! You get 50% of whatever book folks buy. Pretty nice!

If you like my answer can you vote on it?

Thanks,

Dave