Yes, I said that in my first post. Is what I meant about a copyright being inherent in whatever you publish. Its true, you don't have to formally file anything for a copyright to be in effect. Not so simple for a trademark, there are criteria to satisfy as you have found.

But a copyright doesn't mean much by itself. Its a very weak protection of IP by itself. In cases of infringement, its all about who can *prove* they did it first, and trademark filing/registration date (or a *registered* copyright) constitutes proof. So does getting something published in a newspaper, as a book, in a journal--anything with a date. Any good lawyer will tell you so.

Just make sure its actually worth it for you to start this process. And that it would be worth it for you to actually pursue legal action should someone infringe on your copy or mark. You should start using the 'TM' symbol on your mark right away, btw, that doesn't require anything special & it shows you are claiming it as a trademark. You do need to register your mark to (legally) to make use of the 'R' mark, however. Good luck.