Trademarkin' Ain't Easy: The Artist's Guide to Intellectual Property (with apologies to the Notorious B.I.G.)

I'm thrilled to share that my trademark application for Dawn Hunter Art ® was approved on Valentine's Day, which made it even more special! Life has its poetry.

As an artist, safeguarding my brand and intellectual property is essential; obtaining a registered trademark is the key to achieving that. Applying for and obtaining a trademark can be quite intricate and lengthy, but the legal protection it provides is definitely worth the effort. I hired an attorney to make sure everything went smoothly.

If you're considering registering a trademark, whether you're planning to do it independently or with legal assistance, I've put together some helpful information below to help guide you.

Having a common name has posed challenges in protecting my artistic identity. I have experienced hurdles with Artificial Intelligence search algorithm errors and sometimes others taking credit for my work or falsely representing themselves as me, i.e. combining my credentials with their own or not correcting misattribution. These incidents have highlighted the importance of protecting my artistic identity through intellectual property measures such as registered copyrights and trademarks. By taking legal steps to secure my brand, I can prevent others from using my name or brand without permission and potentially damaging my reputation or career.

Dawn Hunter's academic study of Cajal's retina drawing, marker and pen on paper.

Types of Trademarks

A trademark is a distinct name, symbol, phrase, design, or other characteristics that set a product or service apart. When you secure a trademark, you obtain sole rights to associate the mark with your offerings, and it prevents others from using a comparable mark that might cause confusion or dilute your mark's worth.

The scope of a trademark depends on the nature of the mark itself and the goods or services it relates to, or it might protect a specific brand name tied to a product or a symbol linked to a company or group. A trademark could involve unique designs or color patterns in packaging or advertisements.

For those in the creative field, owning a registered trademark is vital for keeping their brand safe and stopping others from using their name, emblem, or other unique marks without permission. There are many reasons why artists need to consider registering their trademarks:

• Brand awareness: A trademark plays a crucial role in establishing your brand's presence in the market, making it simpler for people to recognize your work and associate it with your products or services.
• Legal safeguard: Securing a trademark registration offers you legal protection and the privilege to utilize the mark in commerce. This serves as a foundation for pursuing legal recourse against anyone who may try to exploit your mark without authorization or violate your intellectual property rights.
• Opportunities for licensing: Holding a registered trademark paves the way for striking licensing agreements and forming collaborations with fellow artists, companies, or organizations eager to harness your brand for their own ventures.
• Reputation defense: Registering your trademark also aids in preserving your reputation by stopping others from using your name or mark in ways that could harm your brand or create confusion in the market.

Above, Dawn Hunter's registered logo, and below, Dawn Hunter's registered word mark.

DAWN HUNTER ART ®

People can choose from an array of trademark options tailored to their unique business requirements and the kind of trademark they aim to secure. Keep in mind that certain trademarks may fall under more than one category.. For instance, a combination mark might consist of both a word mark and a design mark. In my experience, I registered Dawn Hunter Art® as both a word mark and a design mark, necessitating two separate applications, each with its own unique registration number.

Below is a list of some frequently encountered trademark types:

• Word Mark: This trademark type is solely composed of text, such as a company name, slogan, or product name.

• Design Mark: Consisting of a logo, image, or other visual design, this trademark type often works in tandem with a word mark to create a brand logo.

• Combination Mark: This trademark type merges text and design elements, commonly used to develop a distinctive brand logo that includes both the company name and a visual component.

• Service Mark: Protecting a service rather than a tangible product, this trademark type serves to identify and differentiate the source of a service in the market.

• Collective Mark: Utilized by groups or organizations to identify their members or affiliates, this trademark type is popular among trade organizations and professional associations.

• Certification Mark: This trademark type certifies that a product or service adheres to specific standards or quality levels, frequently seen in industries such as food or organic products.

• Sound Mark: Comprising a unique sound or musical jingle, this trademark type identifies a product or service and is often employed in radio or television advertisements.

Above, Dawn Hunter's portrait of Santiago Ramón y Cajal in pyramidal neurons, marker, pen and ink on paper.

Trademark Process

Selecting the appropriate trademark to suit your specific requirements and offer optimal protection for your brand is essential. For instance, my trademark goes beyond my artwork's visual appearance or style, encompassing the educational aspects and the unique research I have conducted on long-term projects, such as my series and Fulbright research on Santiago Ramón y Cajal or my sabbatical project, Personified Doubles and Complementary Opposites.

In my opinion, it's crucial to collaborate with a seasoned trademark attorney to guarantee proper registration of your trademark and assist in safeguarding your intellectual property rights over time.

The trademark application process can be somewhat intricate, but it typically involves these steps:

• Conduct a trademark search: Prior to applying for trademark registration, it's vital to conduct a comprehensive search of existing trademarks to ensure that your proposed trademark isn't already in use by another brand. This helps you avoid potential conflicts or legal issues later on.

• Prepare and submit the application: After verifying that your trademark is available, you need to prepare and submit a trademark application to the relevant government agency. In the United States, this is usually the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The application should include details about your trademark, such as the mark itself, the goods or services it represents, and the mark's owner.

• Wait for the application review: Once your trademark application is filed, a trademark examiner, who is an attorney employed by the USPTO, will be assigned to review it and ensure it meets all registration requirements. This review process can take several months, depending on the queue and the complexity of your application.

• Respond to any office actions: If the trademark examiner has concerns or questions about your application, they may issue an office action requesting additional information or revisions. It's important to respond promptly to these office actions to maintain your application's progress.

• Obtain approval and registration: When a trademark application is approved by a USPTO examining attorney, it is published in the Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This publication informs the public of your trademark application, allowing those with objections or oppositions to raise concerns due to conflicts with their marks. If concerns emerge, a legal proceeding takes place before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), an administrative tribunal within the USPTO. The TTAB evaluates the opposition and determines whether to permit the trademark registration or deny it based on the opposition. If no concerns arise, your mark will be assigned a number and officially registered.

Navigating the trademark application process is complicated; seeking assistance from a knowledgeable trademark attorney is essential. They can answer your questions and handle the application for you. This will ensure errors aren't made, or details are overlooked. Their guidance will help ensure the best possible outcome for your application.

Above, photos from my exhibition Personified Doubles and Complementary Opposites. Below, detail of a centerpiece artwork from the show, Art Department.

Conclusion 

Securing a registered trademark has been a vital step for me in safeguarding my artistic brand and fortifying my intellectual property rights. Although the process might seem overwhelming, I urge fellow artists to take this essential stride in defending their work and professional personas. Don't let apprehension about the unknown or the perceived hassle of the application process deter you from shielding your creations. With the legal protection that trademark registration affords, you can rest easy knowing that your dedication and skills are well protected. As artists, our distinct voices and outlooks warrant both acknowledgment and defense. Let's embrace our artistry and preserve our creative legacies through intellectual property rights.

Above, Dawn Hunter's mixed media painting, A Dream in August, marker, ink and acrylic on paper.

Resources

Below are a list of few resources that can help as you progress your trademark application.

• International Trademark Association

• The Patent & Trademark Resource Center | San Diego 

• A Guide to Patent and Trademark Resources | Arizona State University

How to Copyright in Batches of 10

The social media art challenge prompts are an excellent way for artists to express themselves, let their creativity flow, and get their work out there. Prompts are usually keywords, which can be anything from a single word to a sentence. I have a couple of favorites that I follow and participate in during the month of October; Facetober and Peachtober. During 2021, I created the Darcy Inventory based on the Facetober prompts and that series has gone on to be included in professional art exhibitions, like ArtFields.

The Facetober challenge is created by a Skillshare top teacher, British designer and illustrator Charly Clements. The prompts Charly creates helps people find new ways of self-expression through short-form portraits. This is an excellent opportunity for artists who prefer drawing or painting people instead of landscapes or other subjects to showcase their skills.

Above, Facetober 2022 day 3 (braid, gold, and magic) by Dawn Hunter, watercolor, ink and acrylic on paper.

Link, here, to the 2021 Facetober Darcy Inventory portraits.

Sha'an d'Anthes, an illustrator, artist, and author, created the social media art challenge Peachtober. She is the creator of the highly engaged Instagram account @furrylittlepeach, which features many of her creative projects, reels, and sneak peeks into her studio. The challenge for Peachtober is open-ended one word prompts, with various concepts and subjects that can be experimented with for the month.

If you are looking for social media engagement and connections with other artists while expanding your studio practice, both Facetober and Peachtober are excellent choices.

Sha'an d'Anthes and Charly Clements do a great job sharing their social media prompt schedule a month before the challenge starts. This gives artists plenty of lead time to gather their materials, think through the concepts, plan their work, and create artworks before the challenge starts. 

Making your artwork ahead of time is crucial because it grants you the opportunity to copyright your artwork in batches, which is cheaper than copyrighting a single artwork ($65.00 per single work registration vs. $65.00 per group registration). 

Original artwork posted on social media is a very popular form of expression, however before posting your artwork online, you should always make sure that you have copyright protection. Filing a copyright registration prior to publication also entitles you to a greater award sum for damages if an infringement occurs. 

It might sound complicated, it is much simpler than you think. 

Above, Facetober 2022 day 2 (afro, pink and animal print) by Dawn Hunter, watercolor, ink and acrylic on paper.

What is Copyright?

"Copyright is a form of protection for the rights of creators of works. It is used to give them the sole right to reproduce, distribute and create derivative works from their original work." -www.copyright.gov

Copyright is not a new idea, it has been around since the 18th century. It was first established in England in 1710 by the Statute of Anne. The United States followed suit with the Copyright Act in 1790 which has been updated over time to reflect changes in technology and society.

What's the Difference Between Copyright and Public Domain?

"Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium," such as writing, music, or artwork. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.

Public domain is the legal status of creative works that are not subject to copyright or similar rights of protection. These include ideas, facts and discoveries; news events; government publications; works created by U.S. federal "government employees as part of their official duties;" and anonymous or pseudonymous works (unless the author's identity is generally known or can be reasonably ascertained).

Copyright protects original work from being used without permission from its owner - this includes copying, modifying, distributing, displaying publicly and making adaptations from it. The public domain does not offer any protection to a work - anyone can use it without permission from the author which includes copying, modifying, distributing, displaying publicly, and making adaptations from it.

An image that is posted publicly on the internet is not automatically public domain. Most people only realize they have committed copyright infringement when they are being arrested. It is important to determine authorship and receive permission to post images that you have not created. That is a topic that will be developed further in another blog post; however, I want to touch on it briefly here.

How to Register Multiple Artworks with One Application

The Copyright Office offers a way for creatives to register their individual works as a collective or compilation. The Copyright Office allows a group registration for up to ten works in one registration application.

You will need documentation of your photo, artwork, or illustration. Additionally, you will need an online eCO registration account through the U.S. Government Copyright Office, a completed online form, and a means of payment.

If your application is approved, you will be entitled to seek one award of statutory damages for the collective work as a whole, rather than a separate award for each individual work, even if the defendant infringed all of those works.

Above, Facetober 2022 day 1 (coral, red hair and sunglasses) by Dawn Hunter, watercolor, ink and acrylic on paper.

How to Copyright Your Artwork in Batches of Ten

As an artist, you're likely constantly crafting new pieces of art. You might wonder if there's a way to copyright your artwork in groups of up to ten works at once. Good news! It's totally doable and pretty simple. 

Here's the catch: for works of art to be eligible, your artwork shouldn't have been published prior to your registration application. 

Review and follow the steps below, and your work will be protected at a cost-efficient price.

1. Create an eCO account. 

Protecting your intellectual property is important for professional success. Remember to procure copyrights and trademarks for all of your art, products,  services, and branding. Protecting intellectual property with copyrights and trademarks can be time-consuming, but it's worth it. The US Copyright Office website provides excellent resources for individuals: www.copyright.gov.

2. Select "Register a Group of Unpublished Works." 

You can make the process easier by copyrighting your artwork in batches of up to ten works. For a social media challenge like, Facetober, I would recommend to register each week as a batch, especially since the prompts are organized in that manner. That would be a total of four batches and the total cost would be $260.00. If you were to registered all thirty-one works individually, the total cost would be $2,015.00.

You'll need the work's title, the year it was created, and the copyright owner. The US Copyright Office will assign you a number once you've filed your application.

3. Complete the online form prompts:

• Type of Work
• Title of Work
• Completion
• Authors/Claimants
• Limitation of Claim
• Rights and Permissions
• Correspondent
• Mail Certificate
• Special Handling
• Certification
• Review Submission

4. Fill out the online registration form and pay the fee. You can't upload extra docs or submit until the fee is processed.

5. Make a PDF with pics of each piece you want to protect, and upload it.

6. After your payment clears, double-check your application, upload any needed docs, and submit.

It'll take about 60 days for the review process, but your work will be protected once you've registered! If you work with an intellectual property lawyer, share your registration and certificate with them.

Got questions? Reach out to the copyright office!

It's a relief to have your work registered with a copyright. It is a topic that I feel passionate about, and you can learn more about how to register an individual work in my blog post from February 2022 titled Your Cheatin' Heart.

Dawn Hunter Art® - Say my name, but don't credit other people with the art that I have made!

What is in a name? A lot.  

We live in a time of digital technology, and with the increasing use of artificial intelligence or bots by websites, confusion can be created, erroneous attributions can occur, and significant mistakes made.

My name is Dawn Hunter, and I have been a professional artist for over two decades and I have operated my website, www.dawnhunterart.com™, since the early aughts. This past year I have become aware of a website called “Wall of Celebrities” because they have posted eighteen of my original artworks and associated those artworks with an actress by the same name. In fact, there are more images of my artwork or me with my artwork than there are of the actress or her performances. This misattribution is significant, it compromises the authority of my work while simultaneously creating market and brand identity confusion for prospective exhibitors and collectors of my art. 

Like anyone finding themselves in this predicament, I have notified the company of the erroneous attributions of artwork created by me but credited to another person. They promised to remove my artwork, and they have not. That was eight months ago, so I find the lack of action appalling. Additionally, they are offering free downloads of my artwork, Gasp! - without asking or receiving my permission.

My advice to my students and any young artist starting a professional practice is to copyright your artwork. If you find yourself in the same predicament, you will be able to pursue appropriate legal action. Which, of course, will be my next step.

In the meantime, to help eliminate confusion as to who created what, I am featuring my artworks (below) that are currently erroneously attributed to and associated with another person on the "Wall of Celebrities." I am also including a summary of their creation, links that verify the timeline history of the works and the professional exhibition history of those works. I have been very diligent over the years and recorded my creative and exhibition output on this blog and other social media outlets like Facebook and Flickr.  All of this information can be seen publicly and the history of the creation and exhibition of my artwork can be traced.  I have numbered (1-18) each image featured without my permission.

8/10/2022 Update:

Wall of Celebrities continues a copyright infringement of my artwork. They have taken down the artworks numbered 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 18 featured in this post. However they continue to display my artwork without my consent on the following links below.

Artworks numbered  4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 17 are featured on this link:

https://www.wallofcelebrities.com/celebrities/dawn-hunter/landscape-photos-1.html

Artworks numbered 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 16 are featured on this link:

https://www.wallofcelebrities.com/celebrities/dawn-hunter/landscape-photos-2.html

1) Dawn Hunter, Portrait of Cajal from observation of Jorge Zockoll's oversized photograph at the Instituto Cajal, Madrid, marker and pen on paper, 

11" x 14," 2017.

The work (#1 above) was also featured in an article about me by Aggie Mika in "The Scientist" magazine.

2) Dawn Hunter, Diana the Huntress, marker and pen on paper, 11" x 14," 2017.

3) Dawn Hunter, study of Cajal's Diencephalic Nuclei, marker and pen on paper, 

11" x 14," 2017.

4) Dawn Hunter, drawing of NIH researcher Kenton Swartz's talk,  marker and pen on paper, 11" x 14," 2017.

5) Artist Dawn Hunter with installation of the Cajal Inventory. 

Here I am with my work while it was on display at the Instituto Cajal, 2017. For more information on the Cajal Inventory work, click here: 

 Cumulative Effect:  Cajal Inventory drawings.

  

All of these images were originally featured on this blog after my participation in a collaborative symposium facilitated by the National Institutes of Health and the Instituto of Cajal, Madrid, Spain.  Original post can be accessed here:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/600178827940883609/1115373249925306054

The works have gone on to be featured in national and international exhibitions, most recently at the college of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, 2021. Images from exhibition featured below.

6) Dawn Hunter, Man as Sunflower, acrylic and graphite on paper, 14" x 17," 2014.

This work is currently on exhibition at the John Porter Neuroscience Research Center of the National Institutes of Health, alongside seven original scientific drawings created by Cajal. You can learn more about the show by clicking on the photos below.

Artist, Dawn Hunter and her daughter with the NIH exhibition, 2019.  

Here I am with my daughter when we visited the show. The artwork Man as Sunflower is the closest work to the Cajal exhibition case.  Man as Sunflower was also featured in a Jasper magazine article, see below.

Jasper Magazine Article featuring my artwork inspired by the life of 

Santiago Ramón y Cajal.

Below is the link to the online copy of the Jasper Magazine article "The Artist and the Scientist," pp. 50-52, 2015.  Use you right arrow on your keyboard to view the pages in the online publication.  

http://issuu.com/jaspermagazine/docs/110163_cropped_lower?e=3523036/11854158

7) Above is the detail from my painting Art Department.  This is my most famous work from my Spectacle Spectacular series.  It has toured in exhibitions internationally in the U.K. and Germany, and was a center piece work of the Kansas City Art Institute, Foundation 50th exhibition at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, 2015.  The painting was also prominently featured in my solo exhibition at the Delaware Contemporary Art Center and appeared on the cover of the 86th issue of the College of Charleston's literary journal, Crazyhorse.  The painting made its debut in the critically acclaimed, Day Job, 2010, exhibition, held at the Drawing Center, New York, NY.  The artwork was also reviewed and featured in Artnet.

8) The creation of this painting, Blue Cerberus, has been well documented on this blog.  I recorded the entire process through many posts. This work was featured in my solo exhibition at the Delaware Contemporary Art Center, 2014.  

Learn about the show, click here.

Learn about the creation of the painting, click here.

9) Dawn Hunter, detail of Blue Cerberus.

Below are two more works from my exhibition at the Delaware Contemporary Art Center:

10) Dawn Hunter, A Dream in August, graphite and ink on paper, 2014.

Exhibition image from the Delaware Contemporary Art Center.

11) Dawn Hunter, Dusk and Dawn with Horses, graphite and ink on paper, 18" x 24," 2014.

During my first sabbatical after I was awarded tenure at the University of South Carolina, I created a series titled:  Personified Doubles and Complementary Opposites.  The entire process of the series was well documented diaristtcally through a series of Facebook and Flickr posts.

To view the process on Facebook, click here.

To view the process on Flickr, click here.

To view the entire series on my personal website, click here.

12) Dawn Hunter, Vegas Garden, graphite, ink and acrylic on paper, 36" x 58,"2012.

13) Dawn Hunter, Secluded Play, graphite and ink on paper, 26" x 40," 2012.

Secluded Play continues fo garner critical attention, and the drawing was selected to be included in the juried exhibition, Simulacra, at the Sulfur Studios, Savannah, Georgia in 2021.

Read the entire article here: 

https://www.savannahnow.com/story/lifestyle/2021/08/29/where-to-see-art-galleries-savannah-georgia-to-do-galleries-museums/5591926001/

14) Dawn Hunter, Magician's Garden, graphite and ink on paper, 30" x 40," 2012.

Both of the works #14 and #15 below were featured and the annual What's Love Fest.

Photos from the exhibition and link to the Facebook album about the event are below the images of the works.

15) Dawn Hunter, The Magician, graphite and ink on paper, 26" x 40," 2010.

16) Dawn Hunter, Birthday Cake, graphite and ink on paper, 26" x 40," 2010.

The Magician and Birthday Cake on exhibit at the What's Love Fest, 2010.

Artist, Dawn Hunter is featured in the center of this group photo.  

Here I am with two UofSC Magellan Scholars that I mentored.

Dawn Hunter's artwork on exhibit at the What's Love Fest, The Magician and Birthday Cake were among five works that she exhibited.  To learn more about the exhibition, click here.

Below is a work from my Spectacle Spectacular series, and it is from the portfolio series titled Spectacle Spectacular, Etcetera.  This work was prominently featured in a SECAC members exhibition.  To learn more about this work and the SECAC exhibition, click here.

17) Dawn Hunter, Bling Bling, Boobatopia, graphite and ink on paper, 72" x 80," 2007.

18) Dawn Hunter, Gold Rush, acrylic and gold leaf on canvas, 18" x 24," 2008.

The painting Gold Rush is from my Spectacle Spectacular series and is part of the Sitting Pretty installation which was exhibited at Rogue Community College, the UofSC Arts Institute, Mesquite Art Center and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

I have also exhibited works from that series separately on under the individual titles of the work, like featured below.  In that photo I am giving an artist's talk about the works at the Upstairs Artspace in Tryon, North Carolina.

Artist Dawn Hunter discusses her work with artist and, Line and Lies of the Face, exhibition curator, Margaret Curtis.

I had so much fun talking about my work at this show!

Exhibition announcement for the Lines and Lies of the Face.

Dawn Hunter, the evolving Sitting Pretty installation, viewers examining the work at an exhibition, eighteen works completed by 2008.

Dawn Hunter, detail of Sitting Pretty.