Q: I heard that trademarks, patents, and copyrights don't have to be federally registered. Is this true and why would
anyone pay to register them if so?
A:
You heard wrong. Patents must be obtained through prosecution before the USPTO. You have no "common law" patent rights in the U.S. Thus you only have a patent with an issued "letters patent" recognized by the U.S. federal government.
As for copyright, while technically one need not register it (the right arises as a matter of law immediately upon creation), you will not be able to enforce it against an infringer. Plus, if you don't register it right away (say you register only after you find out that someone is infringing), you will not recover any damages prior to the registration. So it's really no good to have a copyright that isn't registered. Plus it's very inexpensive to register a copyright.
Lastly, trademarks (and trade secrets) are the only rights that do not NEED to be registered to be enforceable. There is a common law trademark right that is not dependent on a registration. However, enforcing a common law trademark right is far more difficult without a registration. By registering a trademark, you secure certain advantages for federal enforcement under the Lanham Act (or your respective state's trademark statute). So you must ask yourself whether it's worth the risk to not register a trademark when the cost of doing so is generally very inexpensive.
Griffin Klema
https://klemalaw.com
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