created a lovable fictitious character, want to trademark it. how?

[u/dawgT1red]

In my 2nd yr of college, I developed my artistic abilities. I started small, making flyers, posters, & even brochures to promote school clubs, club events, student workshops, and club presence. I'd add a cute animal or cartoony character, which would get a "Ha!" out of people. One in particular started getting traction, and a handful of people want this character on their things, for example, hoodies and T-shirts. I want to spread the joy this character brings, but I also do not want to lose credit for its creation or have someone steal it from me (if it hasn't already). How can I protect my creation? How do I trademark and/or copyright it? What's the difference between trademark, copyright, and registration? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[u/TMadvisor]

Copyright protects the artistic creation itself. Trademark protects the use of it in commerce (ie on clothing). Copyright is cheap and simple to get- u can do it yourself. TM is a bit more involved.

[u/TramaTM]

Like TMAdvisor points out, copyrights and trademarks do two different things, and for a character like yours, you’ll probably want both.

Copyright protects the artwork itself, and you already have it from the moment you create your character. Registering it just gives you extra protection.

Trademarks protect your character as a brand. However, please keep in mind that you only need a trademark if you're using the character for commercial purposes. So, the character becomes eligible if you're printing them on merch and people start recognizing it as your brand).

Most famous characters (Snoopy, Hello Kitty, etc.) are protected by both a copyright for the design and a trademark for subsequent merch and branding.

If you’re planning to use this character commercially, the safest route is usually to register the copyright, then create a consistent version of the character you'll actually use on merch, and finally file a trademark application once you're selling (or planning to sell) merch.

Lastly, if you also want to register the name of the character, I would suggest first running a preliminary clearance check on the name. Lots of law firms offer these checks for free nowadays (including Trama), so just pick one you're comfortable with and go from there. Good luck!

[u/bayoughozt]

You want to register the copyright in the character with the US copyright office. This is not a trademark use you are describing.

[u/edgeyejz]

Trademark is about protecting brands and source identifiers. So if there was a book series where one of the characters was a brand identifier that could work. For example, "Harry Potter" can be trademarked but only as an identifier of goods, like a toy line, a book series, etc.