If you have a piece of intellectual property -- anything original that you created -- you should protect that work from those who might abuse it. Depending on the type of intellectual property, you could register for a copyright, a trademark, or a patent. The key is understanding the differences between the various registration types and what types of work are eligible for their protection.
Copyright
A copyright is used to protect a work that is an expression of an idea; note that it does not protect the underlying idea itself. Creative works such as computer programs, song lyrics, books and other writings, pictures, sculptures, sound recordings, and video are eligible for copyright protection -- they are the original representations of an idea, and a true and correct copy of the work (or detailed photographs of the work, in cases of a three-dimensional work like a sculpture) must be provided for registration. Copyright protection does not extend to titles, names, and short phrases.
Patent
A patent protects an invention. For an invention to be eligible for a patent registration, it must be novel -- different from other previous inventions in some important respect. It must be non-obvious -- something that anyone with familiarity in the technical aspect of the invention would not find significant. And it must have a use -- the value of the use does not come into the determination, it simply has to have a use.
Trademark
A trademark protects something used to indicate a certain product or service; it does not protect that product or service. Confusion occasionally arises between trademarks and copyrights because they can both deal with a two-dimensional image (a logo and a photograph, for instance), but the important difference is that the photograph can enjoy copyright protection because it is a work of visual art, but a logo would be more appropriate for a trademark because it identifies a company. Some trademarks, provided they include original work, may be eligible for copyright protection, but many are not. For instance, many trademarks cannot be copyrighted because they are simply the name of a company set in a certain font, and names cannot be copyrighted.
Important Differences
A copyright is automatic; as soon as you create an original work (meaning it is not an exact copy of an existing work), you automatically have the rights; copyright registration is all about making sure those rights are protected, not granting you the rights in the first place. The ownership rights below to the author right from the beginning. Patents and trademarks, on the other hand, must be applied for and granted to you by the Patent and Trademark Office or the Library of Congress, respectively.
Another difference is the length of time before protection expires; copyrights are good for a certain period of time after an author's death, while a patent lasts for twenty years; a trademark, though issued for a specific period of time, can be renewed indefinitely.
Intellectual Property in the Real World
Here's an example of how the different layers of protection for intellectual property can overlap and work together in the real world. You develop an entirely new mode of transportation -- some significant variation on a scooter, perhaps. You can apply for a patent for your new mode of transportation (provided it isn't such a close variation of a scooter that it is an obvious one, that is). You'll probably want to decide on a name for your invention; you can trademark that name. If you include a brochure with your invention, that brochure -- including text, illustrations, and photographs -- can be protected by a copyright.
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