What’s the Difference Between Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights?

It’s crucial to know the difference between a patent, a trademark, and a copyright if you have intellectual property (IP). Whether your IP is a brand asset, a product design, an invention, or original content, it can be a valuable advantage for your business and help show what makes you different. However, intellectual property can lose much of its value if it is not properly protected.

This is where patents, trademarks, and copyrights come in. All three are mechanisms you can use to protect intellectual property, but each has different uses. As an entrepreneur, you need to know these differences and how they apply to the work, content, or business assets you’re trying to protect.

Read on to learn about these three mechanisms, how they differ, and when you may need to use each one.

Quick Comparison: Trademark vs. Copyright vs. Patent

Before getting into the details, here is the simplest way to understand the difference:

Trademark

A trademark protects a word, phrase, logo, design, or combination that identifies your goods or services and helps consumers recognize your brand.

Copyright

Copyright protects original works of authorship, such as blog posts, books, photos, videos, artwork, music, and software code, as long as the work exists in a tangible form.

Patent

A patent protects inventions and certain product designs that are new, useful, and meet legal requirements for patentability.

What Is a Patent?

Patent law exists to encourage innovation followed by the commercialization of the advances and products that result from that innovation. In other words, patents protect inventions. 

The nature of these inventions varies widely. There are three categories of patents: utility, design, and plant patents. A utility patent concerns an invention’s functionality and can apply to anything from a new piece of technology or machinery to improvements to existing processes. There are even some pieces of computer software that can have patents applied to them because they bring something new to the industry. On the other hand, design patents apply to the unique ornamental appearance of a manufactured item, while plant patents may apply to certain distinct new plant varieties.

Patents do not apply automatically to innovations. You must apply for your patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and it’s not a simple process. Filing for a patent can take a lot of resources, much of which you’ll spend on determining whether similar products or innovations already exist. You can increase your chances of getting a patent by working with an attorney or a licensed patent agent.

A patent also requires maintenance, or you risk opening the door for others to use your idea. Your patent can expire before you’re ready to unveil your innovation to the market because you failed to maintain it.

Patent Example

If you invent a new type of spill-resistant bottle cap, that invention may qualify for patent protection if it is new, useful, and not obvious. If you also create a unique ornamental shape for the bottle, that design may involve a design patent instead.

What Is a Trademark?

A trademark is any name, logo, or slogan that a consumer can use to identify your business. 

Nike’s “Just Do It” is a perfect example of a trademark. You immediately associate those three words with the brand. However, this association between a brand and an identifying phrase can create risks. Other companies may attempt to capitalize on it by using the phrase to draw people toward their businesses. Thankfully, trademarks prevent that from happening.

Trademarks only apply to identifiers. As a result, you can’t trademark a generic word or phrase. For example, a store that sells video games cannot trademark the term “video game.” However, they can trademark the store’s name or any phrases or logos they create that people identify with the store.

You don’t need to register a name, logo, or slogan for certain trademark protections to apply. This is what is commonly referred to as a “common law trademark.” If a phrase or logo is associated with your business, you already have some automatic protections through use. Unfortunately, you may face a more difficult legal dispute if you don’t register your trademark and somebody uses the material without your permission. Federal registration can also provide broader nationwide benefits.

Your common law trademark rights may also be limited to where you operate, whereas a registered mark is protected nationwide.

You can register your trademark with the USPTO. Once registered, you’ll receive documentation that helps support your exclusive claim to use the trademark in connection with the covered goods or services, making legal disputes smoother in many cases.

Trademark Example

If your clothing brand uses a unique name and logo, those brand elements may qualify for trademark protection because they help customers identify your products and distinguish them from competitors.

What Is Copyright?

The term copyright applies to a collection of rights that you receive if you create an original piece of work. These rights demonstrate that you are the owner of the work and state what you can do with that work. The following rights apply to a copyrighted piece:

• The right to reproduce the work
• The right to distribute copies
• The right to display and perform the work
• The right to produce derivatives of the original piece

Ultimately, copyright means you have control over a piece of content you’ve created. It applies to various works, including books, paintings, and even blog posts.

As a copyright owner, you also have the power to determine how to use each of these rights. For example, you can choose to license your work to another company and allow them to distribute it in exchange for a slice of the profits. 

Copyright automatically exists once you create an original piece of work. However, you should file for a copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office to strengthen your protections and improve your ability to enforce your rights in court.

Copyright Example

If you write original website copy, publish a blog post, create a product photo, or design original marketing graphics, those works may be protected by copyright once they are created and fixed in a tangible form.

Can You Have More Than One Type of Protection?

Yes. In many cases, one business may use more than one type of protection at the same time.

Example 1

Your brand name may be protected by trademark law.

Example 2

Your website copy, blog articles, and product photos may be protected by copyright law.

Example 3

A new product invention or unique functional process may be protected by patent law.

This is one reason many business owners need a clearer understanding of patents, trademarks, and copyrights before deciding what to file first.

Differences Between Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights

While we’ve covered some of the differences between these three forms of protection above, it’s worth exploring them further so you know which applies to your work or product. We’ll split the differences into four categories:

1. Terms of protection
2. Rights granted under the protection
3. Requirements for protection
4. Definition of protection

So, what is the difference between a patent, a trademark, and a copyright in each area?

The Terms of Protection

A copyright generally lasts for the entirety of the author’s life, plus an additional 70 years after the author passes away. Trademarks can continue for as long as a company uses the identifying phrase or mark in commerce and maintains the registration when applicable. Utility and plant patents generally last up to 20 years from the filing date, while a design patent is generally granted for a term of 15 years from the date of grant.

Rights Granted Under the Protection

We’ve already covered the rights granted under copyright. These same rights don’t apply to trademarks and patents.

For a trademark, you have the right to use your identifier. You can also prevent others from using the same identifier or a similar one. A similar identifier is one where a consumer will be confused about the brand associated with the identifier. Coming back to our Nike example, if a company produces sportswear and uses the phrase “Just Doing It,” Nike would likely be able to enforce a trademark in this situation.

The rights received for patents also revolve around prevention. If you have a patent, you can prevent other individuals and companies from making or selling whatever you hold the patent on. You can also prevent them from importing your patented material to other countries and stop them from freely using it. Patent rights mainly focus on ensuring that the patent holder receives adequate compensation for the innovation they’ve brought to the market.

Requirements for Protection

Your invention or concept must be new, non-obvious, and useful to obtain a utility patent. The requirement for usefulness is essential as it places the responsibility on you to define why the patent needs to exist. Failure to do so could lead to the USPTO choosing not to grant a patent. Your design must be new, non-obvious, and ornamental to obtain a design patent. Whether something is ornamental means that an item’s design is not dictated by the item’s function.

For a trademark, the critical requirement is that the identifier is distinctive enough that you can reasonably expect people to associate it with your brand or company. Again, Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan shows this in action. A trademark can apply to the phrase because it’s directly associated with Nike.

With copyright, the work must be creative, original, and fixed in a tangible medium. A piece derived too closely from somebody else’s work may not be copyrightable.

Definition of Protection 

In simple terms, patents apply to inventions, trademarks to identifying brand elements, and copyright to original works.

It’s worth expanding on the idea of original works. Copyright can apply to original creative content such as books, songs, paintings, films, television shows, software code, photos, and blog posts, as long as the work is fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright does not protect ideas by themselves, but it may protect the original expression of those ideas.

Infringing Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights

Patents, trademarks, and copyrights exist to give you recourse if someone infringes on an original piece of work.

There is a difference between a patent, a trademark, and a copyright regarding enforcement and available remedies.

Punishments for Patent Infringement

Unfortunately, patent infringement is the most difficult of the three to prevent because there are no simple or automatic punishments. If someone infringes your patent, you may have the choice of doing nothing or engaging in a lengthy legal battle.

While enforcing a patent in court may be costly, it does not always require the patent holder to show intentional stealing. If someone starts manufacturing something that interferes with your patent, they may be liable for damages

Suppose you do get through a long legal battle. In that case, you may be able to recover losses or other court-awarded remedies depending on the facts of the case. 

Punishments for Trademark Infringement

If somebody infringes on a trademarked identifier, your most obvious course of action is to sue them. You would need to show that the offending party is using a name, logo, or slogan that is likely to cause consumer confusion. 

If you win a lawsuit against someone who stole your trademarked material, a court may impose several penalties on the offending party. Typically, these are monetary penalties, judgment payments, and sometimes the payment of court costs. In some cases, a judge may issue an injunction to prevent the offender from using the trademarked material again.

Punishments for Copyright Infringement

Copyrights allow for private enforcement through litigation or through other legal processes if the infringement occurs online.

In general, registration matters if you want to bring a lawsuit over infringement of a U.S. work. Registered works may also be eligible for additional remedies in some situations.

Trademark vs. Copyright vs. Patent With Examples

If you still feel unsure which protection applies, here is a simple way to think about it:

• If you want to protect a brand name, logo, or slogan
  You are usually talking about trademark protection.
  
• If you want to protect original content
  You are usually talking about copyright protection.
  
• If you want to protect a new invention or product design
  You are usually talking about patent protection.

This simple breakdown can help answer common searches like “trademark vs copyright,” “difference between copyright and patent,” and “patent vs trademark vs copyright.”

Choose the Correct Protection

You can ensure your work has the appropriate protection by choosing correctly between patents, trademarks, and copyrights. If you fail to protect your work, you may make it easier for others to use it and reduce your ability to monetize it effectively.

If you are protecting a business name, logo, or slogan, trademark protection may be the first place to start. If you are protecting original content, copyright may be more relevant. If you believe you have invented something new and useful, patent protection may be worth exploring.

Conclusion

Patents, trademarks, and copyrights all protect intellectual property, but they do not protect the same things. In simple terms, trademarks protect brand identifiers, copyrights protect original creative works, and patents protect inventions and certain designs. Understanding these differences can help you choose the right protection for your business, brand, or content.

If you’re trying to protect your brand name, logo, or slogan, Trademark Engine can help you take the next step with trademark registration, a free trademark search, and other support services designed to make the filing process easier to understand.

You can also explore Trademark Engine’s copyright registration services if you want added support for protecting original creative work.