What’s The Difference Between Trademark and Copyright
From this (edited) headline can you tell if this is a copyright case or a trademark case?
Buc-ee’s sues smaller gas station chain for [blank], arguing cartoon dog logo is too similar to its beaver
The lawsuit wants a permanent injunction to prevent Super Fuels from using the cartoon dog logo
The concepts involved in copyright and trademark have some similar characteristics. Both often deal with pictures and words. Trademark is a type of intellectual property that reserves exclusive use of words and pictures to represent a brand. Copyright is a different type of intellectual property that protects the distribution of the creative works like picture and stories. Here the dispute is clearly about branding.
If you read the article referenced above, you’ll see that Buc-ee’s argues that logos of the two companies are too similar and that could confuse customers. That argument confirms this is actually a trademark infringement case. The unedited headline actually reads “Buc-ee’s sues smaller gas station chain for copyright….” That is wrong. It should read Buc-ee’s sues smaller gas station chain for trademark….”
So now you know the difference between copyright and trademark better than the news source does.
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