Copyright, trademark, and patent protect three completely different things, and choosing the wrong one is an expensive mistake. A logo cannot be patented, an invention cannot be copyrighted, and a novel cannot be trademarked.
The differences matter in cost as much as in law. Registering a copyright costs $45, a trademark costs $350 per class, and a utility patent costs $2,000 in government fees before an attorney bills a single hour. Here is what each one covers, what it costs, and how to tell which you need.
Copyright vs Trademark vs Patent at a Glance
| Factor | Copyright | Trademark | Patent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protects | Creative works | Brand identifiers | Inventions |
| Examples | Books, music, code, film | Names, logos, slogans | Machines, processes, designs |
| Protection begins | Automatically on creation | On use in commerce | Only when granted |
| Registration fee | $45 to $65 | $350 per class | $2,000 government fees |
| How long it lasts | Life plus 70 years | Indefinite with use | 20 years from filing |
| Renewable | No | Yes, every 10 years | No |
| Governing office | US Copyright Office | USPTO | USPTO |
What Copyright Protects
Copyright covers original creative works fixed in a tangible medium, including books, articles, photographs, music, film, software code, and architectural drawings. It protects the specific expression, not the underlying idea.
Protection is automatic the moment the work is fixed, meaning you own the copyright to a photograph the instant you take it, with no filing required. Registration is optional but consequential, because you generally cannot sue for infringement in federal court without it, and registering before infringement occurs is what unlocks statutory damages and attorney’s fees.
Fees through the US Copyright Office are $45 for a single application covering one work by one author, and $65 for a standard application covering everything else. A fee increase to $85 for standard registration was proposed in 2026 and is pending before Congress, so confirm current pricing before filing.
What a Trademark Protects
A trademark protects identifiers that distinguish your goods or services in the marketplace: business names, product names, logos, slogans, and in some cases colors and sounds. It exists to prevent customer confusion rather than to reward creativity.
Rights arise from actual use in commerce, so you hold limited common law rights in your geographic area without filing anything. Federal registration extends those rights nationwide, creates a public record, and allows use of the registered symbol.
The USPTO base application fee is $350 per class of goods or services, and the class count is where costs escalate. A company selling both clothing and software is filing in two classes, doubling the fee. Registration then lasts indefinitely provided you keep using the mark and file maintenance documents, with renewals every 10 years. Our comparison of trademark registration services covers the filing options.
What a Patent Protects
A patent protects inventions, granting the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention for a limited period. Unlike copyright, nothing is protected until the patent is examined and granted, a process that commonly takes two to three years.
The trade-off is disclosure. In exchange for the monopoly, you publish exactly how the invention works, which becomes public knowledge when the patent expires. Three types exist.
Utility Patents
Utility patents cover how something works, including machines, processes, compositions of matter, and manufactured articles. They are the most common and most valuable type, lasting 20 years from the filing date.
They are also the hardest to obtain, requiring the invention to be novel, useful, and non-obvious. That last requirement defeats most applications.
Design Patents
Design patents cover how something looks rather than how it functions, protecting the ornamental appearance of a product. The distinctive shape of a bottle or the appearance of a phone can be protected this way.
They last 15 years from grant for applications filed on or after May 13, 2015, and earlier filings received 14 years. The basic filing fee is $300 for large entities, lower than a utility patent.
Plant Patents
Plant patents cover distinct new varieties of plants that reproduce asexually, such as a new cultivar of rose or fruit tree. They last 20 years from filing, matching utility patents.
The basic filing fee is $240 for large entities. This is the rarest of the three types by a wide margin.
What a Patent Actually Costs
Patent fees come in three parts, and the headline filing fee is the smallest of them. The USPTO also charges separate search and examination fees, and all three scale with entity size.
| Fee | Large entity | Small entity | Micro entity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic filing fee (utility) | $350 | $140 | $70 |
| Search fee | $770 | $308 | $154 |
| Examination fee | $880 | $352 | $176 |
| Total to file | $2,000 | $800 | $400 |
| Provisional application | $325 | $130 | $65 |
Small entities, meaning businesses with 500 or fewer employees, pay 60% less, and micro entities pay 80% less. Micro entity status requires meeting an income threshold and having filed few previous applications, so most independent inventors qualify.
These are government fees only. Patent attorney costs typically exceed them by an order of magnitude, since drafting claims that survive examination is specialized work. A provisional application at $325 buys 12 months to develop the invention while claiming an earlier filing date, which is why many inventors start there.
Trade Secrets: The Fourth Option
The three registered protections have a fourth cousin that costs nothing to obtain. A trade secret is any commercially valuable information kept confidential, from a recipe to a customer list to a manufacturing process, and it is protected as long as you take reasonable steps to keep it secret.
The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 created a federal cause of action for misappropriation, so trade secrets can be enforced in federal court without any registration. The Coca-Cola formula is the standard example, protected far longer than the 20 years a patent would have granted.
The trade-off is that protection evaporates the moment the secret gets out, and independent discovery or reverse engineering by a competitor is entirely lawful. Patents protect against those; trade secrets do not. That choice, disclosure for a time-limited monopoly versus secrecy with no expiry, is the central decision for any process that could qualify for either.
Which Protection Do You Actually Need
Start with what you are protecting rather than with the form of protection. If you made something creative, copyright already applies and registration is the only decision. If you are building a brand, trademark is the relevant path and the priority is clearing the name before you invest in it.
If you invented something functional, patent is the only option, and the clock matters more than with the others. Public disclosure starts a 12-month grace period in the United States, and in most other countries any disclosure before filing destroys patentability entirely.
Many businesses need more than one. A software company might hold copyright in its code, a trademark on its product name, and a patent on its underlying method. These overlap rather than compete.
What None of Them Protect
Ideas themselves are protected by none of these. A concept for a novel, an idea for an app, or a business plan cannot be copyrighted, trademarked, or patented until it becomes a specific expression, a mark used in commerce, or a functional invention described in detail.
Registering a business name with your state is also not a trademark, which is one of the most common and costly misunderstandings. Forming an LLC gives you the right to operate under that name in that state, but confers no intellectual property rights and will not stop a competitor elsewhere from using it. Choosing an entity type is a separate decision covered in our guide to business structures compared.
How We Compiled These Figures
All fees come from the official USPTO fee schedule and the US Copyright Office fee circular, current as of 2026. Patent totals combine the basic filing, search, and examination fees, which are billed together at filing.
Fees change, and the copyright schedule has a pending revision before Congress. Terms of protection reflect current US law, and rules differ in other countries, particularly the grace period for public disclosure before patent filing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you copyright a business name?
No. Business names are protected by trademark, not copyright, because copyright covers creative works rather than identifiers. Names, short phrases, and titles are generally not copyrightable at all.
Do you need to register a copyright?
Protection is automatic on creation, but registration is required before you can sue for infringement in federal court. Registering before infringement occurs also unlocks statutory damages and attorney’s fees, which is often the difference between a case being worth bringing and not.
How much does a patent cost?
Government fees total $2,000 for a large entity, $800 for a small entity, and $400 for a micro entity, covering filing, search, and examination. Attorney fees usually far exceed that, and a provisional application costs $325 for a large entity.
How long does each protection last?
Copyright lasts the author’s life plus 70 years. Utility and plant patents last 20 years from filing, and design patents 15 years from grant. Trademarks last indefinitely as long as the mark stays in use and maintenance filings are made every 10 years.
Can one product have all three protections?
Yes, and many do. A single product can carry a patent on its function, a trademark on its name and logo, and copyright on its packaging artwork and manual, since each covers a different aspect.