This is going to be a long answer so bear with me, but I wanted to make sure you really understand the difference between a copyright, a trademark and a patent.
You've got your big idea; now you need to protect it! Make sure that you've filed for the right business patents, trademarks and copyrights for your work.
Patent
If you have an invention that you need to protect, you may want to consider filing a patent. The two most common of types of patents are:
* Utility patent: for processes, machines, articles of manufacture or composition of matter. The invention has to be both novel and non-obvious.
* Design patent: protects the ornamental and appearance aspects of products, not their function.
In patent law, the person who comes up with an idea first may not benefit; rather, the person who takes action and files the patent application first wins the credit. Given this reality, you may also wish to file a provisional patent, which establishes your priority with a "date of invention." It's much faster and easier to file than a standard patent application, and allows you to legally announce to the world "patent pending" while providing 12 months to file the full patent application.
A provisional patent also allows you to tell people about the idea, seek funding for development, or take time to assess the invention's complete potential. You can decide if you want to spend the money on the full patent process, not to mention marketing and distribution.
Patents are set for a limited amount of time, so find out if the protection is worth the price. When writing the patent application, remember to set important limits on the protection while justifying the broadest allowable claims of the invention. Consult an attorney for the best ways on how to patent ideas for the most protection possible.
Copyright
A copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to authors of "original works of authorship." This includes published and unpublished literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other intellectual work, but does not extend to ideas, methods, or systems.
Material not protected by copyright (or otherwise protected) is available for use by anyone without the author's consent. Establishing a copyright is a necessary prerequisite for a number of legal actions to prevent others from copying, performing or otherwise using the work without the author's consent. For example, if registration is made within 3 months of publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, the copyright owner is entitled to statutory damages and attorney's fees in court actions. Without registration, only an award of actual damages and profits will be available.
Trademark
A trademark is anything that is used, or intended to be used, to identify the goods of one manufacturer from the goods of others, and can include words, names, symbols and logos.
As long as trademarks are used in commerce, unlike patents, they can be renewed forever. Before applying for a trademark, find out if anyone else already claims trademark rights for a particular mark. Once you’ve settled on an unclaimed trademark, you must create a draft including the description of goods and/or services to which the trademark will be applied.
A trademark is an important business tool because it allows you to establish your product's reputation without having to worry that an inferior product will diminish its reputation. Remember that anything which distinctly identifies your company can be a trademark, provided that it is used for goods.
I hope that helps! Best of luck to you.
Cheers,
Rebecca
The Microsoft SMB Outreach Team