Patenting a character design

Sbenny.com is trusted by 1,313,412 happy users since 2014.
Register

Status
Not open for further replies.

Bnthomason

Apprentice Lv2️⃣
Member for 7 years
I live in the United States.

I was wondering... how much is the general cost to patent a specific character design?

Can I do it all by myself, or do I have to go to a front desk counter and get my design patented by them? I heard that they have to go through many checks to make sure the design does not match another person's.

I was hoping to get the following patents:

Registered (Creature Design)
Trademark (Creature Species Name)

I have 2 creature designs that are original that I would like to patent.

Hopefully, no one else has beat me to the punch.

I went to copyright.gov and looked around, but didn't find exactly what I was after.

Could anyone help? Do I have to actually go to court and get the patent there?

And... how much would this cost, in estimate, in total?

Thanks.
 

johnhern

Modding Since 2017
Member for 6 years
Hope this helps you and anyone else interested.

In this case it is probably copyright -- OR -- registered trademark.

Patents refer to an invention, whereas copyrights refer to the expression of an idea, such as an artistic work, and Trademark is geared more for business. They are governed by different rules, so it is important to know which is applicable to your works.

But this kind of simplifies it too much..

If you decide to develop some kind of machine, physical product regarding the character (e.g. a robot, safe baby bottle holder, tree shredder), a patent is needed.

For Words/Phrases/Titles/logos/designs for business, a registered Trademark is needed, e.g. the NAME/DRAWING Pikachu. (i.e. Trade [business].. in Trademark).

A copyright is for the original written word (books, articles, so on), original character design.. e.g. no monetary value at the time, but creative value, and other "Original" works of art (falling under many categories, writing, painting, drawing, building design, etc).

I am assuming you would want to copyright the character and names if not used in business, and trademark the design (like a logo) and names of things if they are going to be used in something that generates revenue (example: A video game).

You can register a copyright online:

The process of registering your copyright online is easy. Visit the U.S. Copyright Office's online registration site, the eCO system. You will need to register an account with the office to start your application.
A comprehensive tutorial is available here.
You will need to create a digital version of your work and upload it with the application. You can also request a shipping label so that you can mail your work to the office, instead.[16]
Pay the filing fee online and submit your application. Refer to the Fee page of the U.S. Copyright Office to find the current filing fee for filing a copyright and write a check for the filing fee.

ONCE you have the copyright, always publish with a copyright symbol and a link to your copyright and "permissions" page, even if just published on a blog.
Be careful where you publish designs online... if they are reused somewhere, somehow, then you will need to start with a cease and desist letter.

For a TRADEMARK, check this out.. Registering a trademark
 

STEELSKY

Savage Lv6️⃣
Member for 6 years
This is actually very helpful John.
Thanks for your input! I was actually going to copyright several designs used in advertising our business so this makes things simplified. Idea. SBenny copyright/trademark app. Brings all relevant forms to one place, explains choices and helps file, and store appropriate info.
No clue how to do it but it would be helpful.
 

STEELSKY

Savage Lv6️⃣
Member for 6 years
maybe help fund SB in some small way.
 

CordeliaCross

?Freelance ? Writer ?
Active User
Member for 5 years
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top