I have several one-word titles I'm considering for my book. They are all common words used in everyday conversation . . . Words like ... Unhooked . . . Fear . . . Pestilence. I have even checked some of my possibilities on Amazon and found no other fiction books with that name. Do I have to go to the expense and hassle of hiring a lawyer to see if anyone has trademarked, or copyrighted any of these words?
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No. Trademarks are always assigned in classes (types of goods or services). Even if someone had trademarked "Unhooked" for example, for a nifty device to remove fishhooks from your thumb, that wouldn't prevent you from naming your book "Unhooked" because it would presumably not be competing with fishhook removal devices.
Single common words can't be copyrighted either unless that copyright involves a very particular graphic treatment that makes it unique. The common* word itself isn't what's actually copyrighted, it has to be a word/font/image combo. And again, that would be in a specific class. A great example is Taylor Made the marine manufacturer and Taylor Guitars. Their logos are nearly identical. Similar font, red background ... yet there is no case there for either to complain as long as Taylor Made doesn't start making guitars.
I'm not a trademark lawyer, but as a marketing director responsible for maintaining and policing dozens of trademarked words, symbols and packaging as well as many copywritten works, I can assure you that you don't need a lawyer involved, even if you want to name your book Taylor.
*Coined words like Kleenex are copyrightable without consideration for graphic treatment, however.
Single common words can't be copyrighted either unless that copyright involves a very particular graphic treatment that makes it unique. The common* word itself isn't what's actually copyrighted, it has to be a word/font/image combo. And again, that would be in a specific class. A great example is Taylor Made the marine manufacturer and Taylor Guitars. Their logos are nearly identical. Similar font, red background ... yet there is no case there for either to complain as long as Taylor Made doesn't start making guitars.
I'm not a trademark lawyer, but as a marketing director responsible for maintaining and policing dozens of trademarked words, symbols and packaging as well as many copywritten works, I can assure you that you don't need a lawyer involved, even if you want to name your book Taylor.
*Coined words like Kleenex are copyrightable without consideration for graphic treatment, however.
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Thanks for your above input. Since my post, I have done some research and thinking. The one word I really wanted to use is currently the title of 8 different fiction works on Amazon and 3 non-fiction works. I'm thinking that is not a good situation for me. I'm thinking that it's better to be unique. I have come up with a 3 word title that has the name of the state where the action takes place (good for key word searches) and a check with Amazon shows no other works with that title. I'd appreciate any thoughts anyone might have on my above thinking. Also I'm wondering if there are any steps I should take to insure my 3-word title is OK to use legally. I know from the above post that single words can not be copywrited, but how about 3 word titles? Again, do I need to go to a lawyer to see if I can use this title?
I just realized I neglected to answer your most important question:
No. A lawyer is entirely unnecessary. All trademarks are a matter of public record. If you're concerned about US trademarks, just do a free search on the TESS system at USPTO (US Patent & Trademark Office) online. Most countries have an equivalent system. There are also a zillion aggregators online such as Trademarkia, where a free search will tell you whether a trademark exists, in what classes, and in what countries, and who owns it, and whether they've kept it up to date, and when it expires.
I really doubt titles of books can be copyrighted anyway. Certainly the title of my last novel was the title of a song, and I did not need permission from the artist because song titles aren't copyrightable. (I did get permission from the music publisher to use the lyrics to a different song by that artist, but that's another topic for another day.)
I know writers tend to be skittish about trademarks, but again, as someone responsible for many high-value trademarks in dozens of countries, I can assure you that unless someone is using one of our marks to promote a competing product or to pretend to be us, we really don't sweat it. It costs us legal fees and goodwill to send out trademark cease and desist letters. We do that only if someone misuses our trademarks in a way that competes unfairly in the same goods & services trademark classes that our marks are registered in.
No. A lawyer is entirely unnecessary. All trademarks are a matter of public record. If you're concerned about US trademarks, just do a free search on the TESS system at USPTO (US Patent & Trademark Office) online. Most countries have an equivalent system. There are also a zillion aggregators online such as Trademarkia, where a free search will tell you whether a trademark exists, in what classes, and in what countries, and who owns it, and whether they've kept it up to date, and when it expires.
I really doubt titles of books can be copyrighted anyway. Certainly the title of my last novel was the title of a song, and I did not need permission from the artist because song titles aren't copyrightable. (I did get permission from the music publisher to use the lyrics to a different song by that artist, but that's another topic for another day.)
I know writers tend to be skittish about trademarks, but again, as someone responsible for many high-value trademarks in dozens of countries, I can assure you that unless someone is using one of our marks to promote a competing product or to pretend to be us, we really don't sweat it. It costs us legal fees and goodwill to send out trademark cease and desist letters. We do that only if someone misuses our trademarks in a way that competes unfairly in the same goods & services trademark classes that our marks are registered in.
There are marketing reasons why a distinctive title can be good, but you can have the same title as another book. Authors aren't expected to find unique titles that no one has ever used before.
Individual book titles can't be trademarked. Series titles can be, but most aren't. Unless it's something very famous and distinctive, like Harry Potter, it's unlikely that you'll hit problems.
Individual book titles can't be trademarked. Series titles can be, but most aren't. Unless it's something very famous and distinctive, like Harry Potter, it's unlikely that you'll hit problems.