Trademarks protect your brands; it is put in place to make sure a consumer knows who is providing the goods and services the consumer is buying. Copyrights protect original works of authorship; examples of where you can find copyrights are books, songs, drawings, or anything in general that is originally created and has a sense of authorship. Patents protect inventions.

Registering your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office has many benefits. These benefits are national protection and an increase in the overall strength of your brand. With regards to national protection, registering your trademark with the USPTO gives you exclusive right to use your trademark nationwide. For example, if you register a trademark for a service you provide in New York, you can stop a person in Texas from using your trademark to sell a similar service. On top of that, you get to build a stronger brand. Don’t spend valuable time and resources to promote a brand you do not own.

A trademark can last for an indefinite period. As long as you are continually using your trademark, you can get the benefits of trademark protection. However, from time to time, you are going to have to show the USPTO that you are still using it. They require you to update them periodically to make sure you still deserve this protection, and you are not tying it up for someone else to use it.  

A trademark registered with the USPTO is known as a registered trademark. An unregistered trademark is a trademark that you are using to promote your goods or services but just have not registered it with the office.

The difference between filing a trademark as an individual and a company comes down to who owns the trademark. In the United States, a company such as an LLC or a corporation has certain ownership rights similar to that of a person. If you file a trademark and you assign that to a company, you do not own that trademark, the company does. So, making the distinction as to whether or not you want this to be owned by a person or a company is an important distinction to make. As a general matter, if your business is transacting under a corporation or a limited liability company, you should probably have that trademark be assigned to the company that is transacting.

Generally, you cannot trademark a song or book title. There are some exceptions like if your book title is a title of a series you are selling, you can trademark that because it is being used as a series. 

If somebody starts using your trademark, the first thing that you would need to do is figure out if they have the right to use that trademark. Depending on how the use is being done, they might have a trademark that is different than how you are using it, and therefore they would be entitled to use it. Assuming the person doesn't have the right to use it, the first thing that you can do is send a cease and desist letter. A cease and desist letter informs the recipient your rights are being infringed upon and allows the infringer to stop using it. If the cease and desist letter does not pan out, then the next step might be to file a lawsuit.