Trademark vs Copyright
Copyright and trademark both refer to protection of intellectual property but they are different. According to the US Copyright Office FAQ, copyright "protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed."
Trademark on the other hand covers such things as logos and brand names. The US Patent and Trademark Office says that "A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name."
The copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing. As an example, a specific description of a camera could be copyrighted, but this would only prevent others from copying the description; it would not prevent others from writing a description of their own or from making and using
the camera. Copyright law does not protect a bare phrase, slogan, or trade name.
The purpose of a trademark is to protect words, phrases and logos used in business to identify the source of goods and/or services. Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark. If you are interested in protecting a title, slogan, or other short word phrase, generally you want a trademark.
Sometimes there is confusion between trademarks and service marks. Trademarks and service marks are essentially the same thing, except that a trademark promotes goods or products while a service mark promotes services. The terms "trademark" and "mark" are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks. The process of registration for both is the same.
The ™ or SM symbol is to be used for marks that either have a pending trademark/service mark application OR for marks that are simply claiming the rights to the mark.
The ® symbol is to be used for marks that have a Federally registered trademark/service mark.
The © symbol is used to denote copyright ownership.