How trademarks and copyrights save mascots, characters and heroes from plagiarism

Mascots have become an important part of the marketing strategy for many entrepreneurs, and game characters and heroes of works can bring additional profit to authors and copyright holders. For example, a game character can be used on fan merchandise and receive money from distribution of the product. Only if you do not register a trademark, the mascot can be “hijacked”, and someone else can use the character’s image for profit.

My name is Yuri Gorbachev. I head the Lireit patent office. In this article I will tell you how to protect characters and mascots, show examples of our registered designations and judicial practice.

Who are they – mascots, game characters and heroes of works?

Mascots are used in various fields: from children's products to car tires. As a rule, the image of a branded hero is carefully thought out, putting into it the meanings necessary for the delirium.

Many mascots remain with the company for decades. They allow you to increase interest in advertising campaigns and marketing materials without much effort. The main thing is to carefully think through every detail of the image. The mascot should reflect all facets of your business.

In order for a drawn character to become a mascot, you need to endow him with characteristic features and allow him to contact the brand’s audience. Take, for example, world-famous brands: they have their own characters that not only attract attention, but also inspire trust among customers.

Game characters are collective images that are used in computer and board games. They are developed for a specific project or adapt the image of an existing hero to the game format. Characters act according to a given scenario or obey the players.

Characters play a key role in games as they help create atmosphere, develop the story, and interact with players. Each character can have unique abilities, backstory, and motivations.

The hero of a work is an image created by the author within the framework of a specific creative work. It has its own character and characteristics. Without this, it cannot be recognized as unique – copyright on a standard image simply will not arise. It can apply to the work as a whole, but for a character to be recognized as a separate object, additional conditions are needed.

All characters, mascots and heroes must meet two criteria to be protected:

Each of these objects may be of interest to other entrepreneurs. This gives rise to the need to protect objects from the encroachments of unauthorized persons and their attempts to make money on someone else’s creativity.

Let's take a look at the story of two characters to see how best to approach defense:

Once upon a time there lived a brave and talented entrepreneur named Brendel. He had a dream – to create a unique product and win the hearts of consumers. Every day he worked. One day Brendel created a wonderful creature – a cute mascot named Fartik. Fartik had the ability to bring joy and smiles to everyone who saw him. Brendel realized that together with Fartik they could achieve success. Since then, the entrepreneur and the mascot have become inseparable.

How to protect a mascot, game character or hero of a work using copyright?

The mascot, the game character, the hero of the work are initially protected by copyright, which arises immediately after their creation and extends to the whole world. However, the lack of evidence that an object was created by a specific author leads to difficulties in proving it in disputes.

Let's go back to our story:

Brendel's product sold well. Consumers were delighted to buy products with Fartik's image. But one fine day Fartik disappeared! Brendel looked for him in a panic, looked into every corner, but Fartik was nowhere to be found. Soon he learned the sad news: the evil wizard Kopirast stole Fartik and began to use his image for his dark deeds! He sold counterfeits of Fartik, profiting from Brendel's work and ruining his reputation. It was decided – we need to fight. Brendel turned to specialists who protect mascots. He was told that it was possible to win the battle with Kopirast only if there was confirmation that Fartik was created by Brendel. But there was no evidence…

Confirmation of authorship of a mascot, game character or hero of a work can be:

• Agreement with the author, terms of reference, acceptance certificate. This is true if the character or mascot is created for you by another person, for example, a designer. The documents need to describe the object in detail, it is advisable to even attach its image to the transfer and acceptance certificate.

• Drafts and sources. Everything that indicates the character creation process must be preserved. Drafts and sources can be demonstrated in court. If you are not creating a mascot yourself, request the source code from the designer.

• Certificate of Deposit. This is an official document that is issued at the request of a person and states that he owned the character on a specific date, that is, it records the fact of ownership. Deposit the appearance and description of the mascot.

Typically, copyright disputes drag on because it is necessary to first prove that the character was created by creative work and has its own characteristics, and then the guilt of the violator and his own rights to the object.

Another argument is not to focus solely on copyright when protecting a character – the violator can be punished only if the two characters are completely identical. The presence of differences is already a reason to doubt that the character was copied.

To use characters and heroes of works for commercial purposes, we always recommend using more serious methods of protection.

How to protect a mascot, game character or hero of a work using a trademark?

A mascot, a game character, or a hero of a work can become a trademark. To do this, it is registered with Rospatent. When the rights to a character are fixed, you can freely and calmly use it in events, identity, advertising and marketing campaigns, merch, and fight against violators.

We continue our journey with Brendel:

Brendel understood that without proof of authorship nothing would come of it. However, the specialist suggested another option – registering a trademark. This will definitely give him strength against the Copier. Brendel, together with a specialist, collected all the necessary documents and sent them to Rospatent. After 3 months, Fartik was protected by law! Brendel was able to get his mascot back and even sued the evil Copier for using his image without permission. Now Brendel knew: you need to not only create, but also protect your ideas and creations. Brendel was lucky that Kopirast did not register Fartik as a trademark with Rospatent first, otherwise he would have lost it forever.

Registering a trademark prevents counterfeits and misuse of your character, allowing you to focus on growing your business, project, or creativity.

Judicial practice shows that companies that take care of registering their marks in advance have every chance of winning disputes. Even if the other person was just using a similar character.

Let's consider the options for the characters we have already registered, which have turned from an idea into protected assets:

As a trademark, you can register not only the image of a character, but also his name. This will be a separate designation.

After registering a trademark, entrepreneurs and authors not only protect their characters from copying, but also significantly increase sales due to character recognition.

Trademark rights can be licensed to others and generate additional income.

For example, you came up with a character for a game, it became popular. A certain entrepreneur decided to produce souvenirs with your character. He must contact you and obtain the rights to these actions by paying you remuneration under the contract.

Registration with Rospatent takes place upon the application of the interested party – the copyright holder. It takes approximately 3-8 months if the documents are drawn up correctly and experts have no doubts about their legality. During the registration process, you need to pay fees – from 35,000 rubles, depending on the number of selected ICGS classes.

When filling out the application, you need to highlight all the relevant activities for which you need protection. The trademark will only be protected in these areas and in the country in which you completed the procedure. This fact upsets many entrepreneurs, but in relation to a mascot, character or hero, comprehensive protection can be applied, if necessary.

Select only the main areas in which you work or plan to work, register the designation in them, and in the rest – it will be protected under copyright through deposition.

How to protect a mascot, game character or hero of a work using a patent?

An industrial design patent protects the appearance of a product. Sometimes it is used to protect mascots and characters. However, this solution has a number of disadvantages:

An industrial design patent is often chosen to protect the rights to certain elements of a hero's image.

If the choice is between patent protection or trademark protection for characters, we recommend that clients choose the second option.

How can an author or copyright holder deal with violators?

By owning a copyright or trademark, you can file a claim against the infringer, prohibit use, demand compensation, and even sue.

Responsibility for violations:

If your rights to a mascot, character or hero of a work are violated:

1. Document the facts of violation using screenshots, links and other materials confirming the use of your work or mark.

2. Prepare and send a claim of copyright or trademark infringement to the infringer. Indicate in it what rights were violated and demand that you stop using it and pay compensation.

3. Go to court to demand protection of your rights, compensation and cessation of violations.

Some recent judicial practice:

1. October 21, 2024 Salekhard court made a decisionaccording to which the violator is obliged to pay 100,000 rubles in compensation for violating the rights to 5 characters. The copyright holder confirmed his rights through an agreement with the performer.

2. Similar made a decision court in Khabarovsk on the same day for violating the rights to 5 characters of another copyright holder.

3. October 21, 2024 Khabarovsk court supported “Soyuzmultfilm” and recovered 25,000 rubles in compensation from the individual entrepreneur for the use of the “Cheburashka” character, which is registered as a trademark.

4. October 18, 2024 court of the Chechen Republic decided to collect 100,000 rubles from an entrepreneur for violating the rights to 5 characters registered as trademarks and 5 characters that are objects of copyright.

5. For violation of the rights to the character “Danila Bagrov”, the copyright holder also recovered 10,000 rubles from entrepreneurs on October 18, 2024: court decision No. 1, court decision No. 2.

The rights to characters, mascots and heroes of works become the cause of disputes every day. I recommend protecting creativity so as not to later lose the right to use a specific image.