If you are an author, you may want to get a book title trademark to protect your brand. Generally, the title of a single book cannot be registered as a trademark. But there are other ways to protect your book title trademark. Let’s talk about how to do it.
What? I Can’t Get A Book Title Trademark?
Well, you can’t get a book title trademark if you are seeking to register the title of a single creative work. In fact, the USPTO will refuse your trademark application with a “Title of a Single Work Refusal” (aptly named). Because you are trying to register the title of a single work, they will not register.
Sorry.
But there is hope. The USPTO will let you register the name of a series of books. So, think about Harry Potter…a series of books about young magician. That’s something that could be registered as a trademark. Because it’s a series. If you file a trademark application for a series of books, you are generally going to be good to go. Unless there are other reasons why the trademark office might refuse to register your trademark.
One more thing: do keep in mind that even if you have a series of books that you want to file a trademark registration for, you also need to know if your trademark will be seen as too descriptive. That means a book like “How To Write Decent Blog Posts, Vol. 1-41” might have some problems.
As usual, talk to a trademark attorney before running the risk of spending time and money on building a brand that won’t work at the trademark office. You want to avoid any issues that would cause problems now or down the road and you want to really understand the value that a trademark registration provides.
Getting a book title trademark might have some challenges, but you can do it!
