As a creator of comic book or cartoon characters, safeguarding your intellectual property is crucial for maintaining control over your creations and capitalizing on their commercial potential. While copyright law automatically protects your characters’ expressions, trademarks offer additional protection for names, logos, and symbols used in commerce. This guide will walk you through the process of trademarking your characters, highlighting key considerations and strategies to ensure your creative assets are well-protected.

Before diving into the trademark process, it’s important to distinguish between copyright and trademark protection:

• Copyright: Protects original works of authorship, including literary and artistic works like comic books and cartoons. It covers the specific expression of ideas (for example Micky Mouse) but not the ideas themselves (mice that talk and have adventures).

• Trademark: Protects symbols, names, logos, and slogans used to identify and distinguish goods or services in the marketplace.

While copyright safeguards your characters’ expressions within creative works, trademarks protect the elements that represent your brand in commerce (i.e. the products and services you sell).

Trademark law requires that a mark be used consistently in commerce in connection with specific goods or services. Showing evidence that a character name is being used to advertise a product or service can be difficult in this context.

• Use in Creative Works Not Enough: Simply featuring a character within a book or video doesn’t constitute trademark use, as it’s not directly associated with goods or services offered in the marketplace. The characters are just words and illustrations within a book or actors in a video. They are not products and services.

• Variable Appearances: Characters often appear in various poses and contexts, making it difficult to meet the trademark requirement of consistent use without variation. Your character may be jumping on one page, going for a walk on another, and interacting with friends on yet another.

Take any famous brand name you know as a consumer - you could most likely draw the logos from memory as they never change. The Starbucks logo design or the font used to write the word COCA COLA is always the same. Creative works typically do not present characters statically. The invariable use requirement for a trademark registration presents unique challenges for comic book and cartoon characters.

To successfully trademark your characters, consider the following strategies:

1. Merchandising

Use the name of your characters on merchandise like t-shirts, toys, posters, and other products. This establishes the character’s image as a brand identifier in commerce. Below is the character Pikachu from the POKEMON franchise. PIKACHU's name on the stuffed animal packaging is enough to support trademark registration as a brand, provided the product is actually being sold to U.S. consumers.

2. Service Offerings

Entertainment Services: Offer services such as an “ongoing series of videos” featuring your character. Streaming video is an accessible way for most new animators to secure a trademark registration. You can launch on Youtube far faster than securing a distribution contract with a major television studio. Register the character’s name and likeness as a service mark associated with these offerings. Below is the Youtube channel for PEPPA PIG as an example demonstrating use of the character in a series of online videos.

3. Rely on Copyright for Supporting Characters

Supporting characters in a franchise can present practical problems in regards to securing a trademark registration as there may not be a commercial justification to create merchandise or services for every character in your creative work. For supporting characters you can rely upon:

• Copyright Protection: Copyright law protects artistic expression as it is found in your characters. Copyright automatically applies upon creation and doesn’t require registration, though registering can enhance protection. Speak with a copyright attorney on how to best proceed.

• Documentation: Keep thorough records of creation dates and drafts to establish ownership and originality.

While you may not be able to trademark every character name given the goods and services requirement, you should definitely be sure to register the name and logo associated with the franchise. It's the primary way in which your audience will identify your work.

Trademarking your comic book and cartoon characters is a strategic move to protect and monetize your creative work. By understanding the nuances of trademark law and implementing effective strategies, you can secure legal protection for your characters’ names, images, and associated branding elements. While main characters may lend themselves easily to merchandising and service offerings, supporting characters can still be protected through copyright and selective trademarking of distinctive elements.

​