Helpful resources / Trademark basics
Trademark vs copyright vs patent: which protects what
One product can involve all three. The brand name is a trademark, the packaging artwork is a copyright, and a new mechanism inside is a patent.
Written by Trademarky. Last checked September 4, 2026. 7 min read.
Three kinds of protection for three kinds of things
Trademarks protect the signs that tell customers where goods and services come from. Copyright protects original creative works. Patents protect inventions and ornamental designs. Each comes from a different law, is granted by a different process, lasts a different length of time and costs a different order of magnitude.
Take a fictional software company called Acmeflow. The name ACMEFLOW and its logo are trademarks. The source code, the help articles and the marketing video are copyrights. If the product uses a genuinely new method of compressing data, that method could get a utility patent. None of the three protects the others: registering the name does nothing for the code, and a patent on the method does nothing for the name.
Trademarks: your brand identifiers
A trademark is any word, name, logo, slogan, sound, color or product shape that identifies the source of goods or services and distinguishes them from everyone else's. Rights begin with use; federal registration with the USPTO adds nationwide priority, a presumption that you own a valid mark, the ® symbol, access to federal court, and recording with customs and online marketplace brand programs.
A registration lasts as long as you keep using the mark and file the maintenance documents on time. With Trademarky, a one-class filing costs $800: a $450 attorney fee plus the USPTO fee of $350 per class, passed through at cost. Our guide on what a trademark costs breaks that down.
A fictional fitness app called Loopwell would register LOOPWELL as a word mark for downloadable software and for the online fitness service it provides, and might add the app icon as a separate design mark. Our guide on word marks, logos and icon marks explains when each is worth filing.
Copyright: original creative works
Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible form: writing, photographs, illustrations, music, video, software code, website copy and the artwork of a logo. It does not protect ideas, facts, methods, titles, names, short phrases or slogans, and the Copyright Office will not register those. A fictional outdoor apparel brand, Northwind Outfitters, owns the copyright in its catalog photographs and product descriptions; the name NORTHWIND OUTFITTERS is a trademark question, not a copyright one.
Copyright is handled by the U.S. Copyright Office, part of the Library of Congress, not by the USPTO. It exists automatically the moment a work is created. Registration is optional, but for a work first published in the United States you generally need it before you can sue, and registering before an infringement begins, or within three months of first publication, preserves the right to statutory damages and attorney fees.
A copyright lasts for the author's life plus 70 years. For works made for hire and for anonymous or pseudonymous works, it lasts 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first. The government fee for a basic registration is measured in tens of dollars, and many owners file without a lawyer.
Patents: inventions and designs
A utility patent protects a new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture or composition of matter, or an improvement to one, that is also non-obvious. A design patent protects the new, original and ornamental appearance of an article, not how it works. Both are examined and granted by the USPTO, and there is no protection until the patent is granted.
A utility patent lasts 20 years from the filing date, subject to maintenance fees paid at intervals after grant. A design patent lasts 15 years from grant, with no maintenance fees. When a patent expires the invention enters the public domain. Patents cannot be renewed.
Patents are the expensive one. USPTO fees depend on the applicant's size, and drafting a utility application is specialist work: with a patent attorney, a utility patent commonly runs to several thousand dollars, often much more, and examination commonly takes two years or longer. A design patent costs less, but still more than a trademark filing. Timing matters too: in the United States you have one year from your own first public disclosure or sale to file; many other countries allow no grace period.
Acmeflow's data-compression method might be patentable if it is genuinely new. The distinctive shape of a bread tin designed by a fictional bakery called Hazel & Rye could be a design patent. The names never can be.
The three compared
| Trademark | Copyright | Patent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protects | Names, logos, slogans and other signs of source | Original creative works: text, images, music, code, video | Inventions (utility) and ornamental designs (design) |
| Granted by | USPTO | U.S. Copyright Office | USPTO |
| Rights begin | With use; registration adds nationwide rights | Automatically on creation; registration is needed to sue | Only when the patent is granted |
| Lasts | Indefinitely, with use and maintenance filings | Author's life plus 70 years; 95 or 120 years for works made for hire | 20 years from filing (utility); 15 years from grant (design) |
| Typical cost | $800 for one class with Trademarky, USPTO fee included | Tens of dollars in government fees | Several thousand dollars with an attorney, often more |
| Time to obtain | Roughly 8 to 12 months for a straightforward application | A few months | Commonly two years or more |
| Symbol | ™ before registration, ® after | ©, optional | "Patent pending", then the patent number |
Durations and fees are set by statute and by the two offices and can change. The USPTO summarizes the differences on its trademark, patent or copyright page.
Which one your business needs
- Every business with a name customers recognize: a trademark, starting with the word mark. It is the protection almost every business needs and the one most often left until a conflict appears.
- A business that creates content: photographs, courses, software, books, designs, music. Copyright exists automatically, but register the works that matter commercially so you can enforce them.
- A business with a genuinely new mechanism, formula or product shape: talk to a patent attorney before you show it publicly, because disclosure starts a clock.
- A business whose logo is central to the brand: consider both the trademark and the copyright in the artwork, and make sure you own that copyright.
Trademarky handles trademarks only. If what you describe on the free call is a copyright or patent question, your attorney will say so and point you to the right specialist rather than file something that does not fit.
How an LLC or DBA differs from a trademark
Forming an LLC or corporation registers the entity's legal name with one state. The state checks only that no other entity on its own records has the identical or a confusingly similar name. That is not a trademark right: it does not stop a business in another state, or an unincorporated one in your own, from using the same name as a brand, and it does not stop anyone from registering the name as a federal trademark ahead of you.
A DBA, short for "doing business as" and also called a fictitious or assumed name, is a public notice that a person or company trades under another name. It is a disclosure requirement, not a grant of exclusive rights. A domain name is similar: it gives you an address, not a trademark.
Suppose Hazel & Rye LLC opens a bakery in one state, while an unrelated Hazel and Rye Bakehouse opens in another and files a federal application first. The LLC filing gives the first bakery no answer. Trademark rights turn on who used the mark first and who registered it, which is why it pays to run a free trademark check before you form the entity, print the signage or buy the domain. Our guide on naming a brand you can trademark covers what to look for.
Check whether the name you are about to build on is clear before you spend on an LLC, a domain and a logo. Check my trademark for free
Questions about this topic
Can the same product be protected by a trademark, a copyright and a patent?
Yes, and often it should be. The name and logo are trademarks; the packaging artwork, manual and website are copyrights; and a new mechanism or ornamental shape may be patentable. Each is filed separately, with a different office for copyright, and none substitutes for the others.
Does registering an LLC protect my business name?
Only in the narrow sense that no other entity can register the identical name with that state. It gives you no trademark rights: a business in another state can use the name as a brand, and anyone can register it as a federal trademark before you do.
Can I copyright my business name or slogan?
No. Names, titles, short phrases and slogans are not eligible for copyright. They are protected, if at all, as trademarks. The artwork of a logo can be copyrighted if it is creative enough, but the words in it cannot.
Related guides
- Word mark vs logo vs icon mark: Word marks, logos and icon marks explained: what each protects, which to file first, why a brand set is several applications, and when to claim color.
- How to name a brand you can trademark: The distinctiveness spectrum in plain English, a naming checklist, how to screen a shortlist, the traps that get names refused, and domain checks.
- How much does a trademark cost?: What a U.S. trademark costs: the $350 USPTO fee per class, attorney fees, the later filings that keep a registration alive, and what is refundable.
This guide is general information to help you understand the process. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice on your own mark, talk to an attorney on a free call.
Contact
Trademarky, LLC, 78 SW 7th St, 5th FL, Miami, FL 33130. (305) 562-6800, hello@trademarky.io. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm ET. Available by appointment.
This free check is an AI-assisted preliminary screening against known U.S. trademark records. It is not a comprehensive clearance search and not legal advice. Only a licensed attorney can advise you on whether to file.