What’s the difference between a patent, trademark, and copyright?

All three are government-granted methods of protecting intellectual property. Patents protect the invention of useful items such as car parts, manufacturing processes, and genetically modified plants. Patents can also protect a new design of an existing products, such as a "better mousetrap." Copyright protects the expression of an idea such as books, computer software, works of art, TV shows and films, and music. Trademarks indicate the source of a particular item so that you know exactly who made it. Trademarks can consist of words, graphics, specific colors or patterns, and sounds.

Patents protect inventions for a max term of 20 years. Most drugs are patented. Most machines are patented. Cell phones are patented. Trademarks protect the brand name of a product - for as long as the mark is used commercially. Think of soap, cars, cell phones, etc. Copyrights protect artistic items - writings, paintings, architectural drawings, for terms set by congress. Books, photos, movies, etc are all protected by copyright. Last are trade secrets which protect commercially valuable information as long as it remains secret. The Coca Cola formula is still secret and protected as a trade secret. Same with the KFC chicken spices.

Each protect different types of intellectual property and are governed by different statutes. One of the best ways I have found to think about the three different areas is to remember that you use patents to protect your technological advantage; you use copyrights to protect your content advantage and you use trademarks to protect your brand advantage.