There are several types of Intellectual Property (IP) that can be protected through registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the United States Copyright Office.
Use The USPTO’s IP Identifier tool that can help you figure out what kind of IP you have and will connect you with relevant supporting materials.
Or, for a quick summary, use the following comparison chart from USPTO's Trademark, patent, or copyright page:
| Trademark | Patent | Copyright | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What's legally protected? | A word, phrase, design, or a combination that identifies your goods or services, distinguishes them from the goods or services of others, and indicates the source of your goods or services. | Technical inventions, such as chemical compositions like pharmaceutical drugs, mechanical processes like complex machinery, or machine designs that are new, unique, and usable in some type of industry. | Artistic, literary, or intellectually created works, such as novels, music, movies, software code, photographs, and paintings that are original and exist in a tangible medium, such as paper, canvas, film, or digital format. |
| What's an example? | Coca-Cola® for soft drinks | A new type of hybrid engine | Song lyrics to “Let It Go” from "Frozen" |
| What are the benefits of federal protection? |
Protects the trademark from being registered by others without permission and helps you prevent others from using a trademark that is similar to yours with related goods or services. | Safeguards inventions and processes from other parties copying, making, using, or selling the invention without the inventor’s consent. | Protects your exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and perform or display the created work, and prevents other people from copying or exploiting the creation without the copyright holder’s permission. |