I’m launching an Artist website. There will be a special feature involving blog posts on a particular topic. I have a clever name and graphic for that feature, and the concept might actually be “worth stealing.”

The name/graphic will appear at the top of blog posts, at the top of that section of the website, and in my social media posts on that topic. I want to build audience recognition for the feature by way of the name and graphic in question.

But I don’t know where to begin. I can register my own trademark in the USA, but first I need to determine:

1) Is it necessary to register this as a trademark? A trademark does not always need to be registered, as when displaying “TM” within the content.

2) How many of the elements should be registered? There’s the feature name, a slogan, the logo/graphic image, a specific color, etc.

It looks to me as though protecting multiple elements makes it easier to circumvent the trademark by changing one or more elements… I’m NOT sure if that’s true.

I can’t afford an attorney, so I’d love to find a FORUM online where members share this kind of information. Thanks.