Difference: Copyright vs Patent vs Trademark

In this post, you'll read about the basic difference between Copyright, Patent & Trademark

Refer to Disclaimer before proceeding

Contents:

• Introduction

• 1.1: What is Copyright?
• 1.1.1: Applications of Copyright
• 1.1.2.1: Duration of certain works protected under act
• 1.1.2: Foreign applicability of Copyright

• 1.2: What is Patent?
• 1.2.1: Applications of Patent

• 1.3: What is Trademark?
• 1.4: Difference between Copyright, Patent & Trademark

Introduction:

While many people seem to get confused between Copyright, Patent & Trademark. Here I'll tell you how you can understand it in simple way. All of these 3 terms have somewhere common motive that is to protect a person's work from being reproduced, stolen by other people or companies.

1.1: What is Copyright?

"Copyright" is group of rights given to a person for their work as per Copyright act 1957

1.1.2: Applications of Copyright

The list of places which copyright is applicable, but not limited to:

• Literary
• Musical (including any accompanying words)
• Dramatic work (including any accompanying music)
• Pantomimes & Choreographic work
• Pictorial , graphic and sculptural work
• Motion picture & other audiovisual work
• Sound Recordings
• Government work
• Architectural work
• Other artistic work

1.1.2.1: Duration of certain works protected under act

Literary, musical, dramatic and other artistic work are only protected till the author's age and 60 years after the author's death.

The following are protected until next 60 years (starting from day they are implemented):

• Anonymous and pseudonymous works
• Posthumous work
• Cinematography films
• Sound records
• Government work
• Public undertakings
• International Agencies
• Photographs

1.1.2: Foreign applicability of copyright in India

Copyrights of works of the countries mentioned in the International Copyright Order are protected in India, as if such works are Indian works. The term of copyright in a work shall not exceed that which is enjoyed by it in its country of origin

1.2: What is Patent?

A patent is form of intellectual property which gives legal right to owner and restrict others from making/using/selling it and is valid for 20 years from the day it is implemented as per Patents act 1970.

Or in other words:

Patent gives the right to the inventors to stop other people from manufacturing their invention.

1.2.1: Applications of Patent

Application materials include machines, manufactured articles, industrial processes, and chemical compositions.

1.3: What is Trademark?

Trademark is a protection tool that is given to products and services to differentiate them from similar goods and services. This is done to protect the interests of the manufacturers or sellers as they can use the word or symbol to let the potential customers distinguish them in a crowd of similar products and services. (India Trademark Law 1999)

Or in simpler terms:

Trademark is a logo, image, text, or even sound that has the power to remind people about the products and services of a company.

1.4: Difference between Copyright, Patent & Trademark

Particulars	Copyright	Patent	Trademark
Protects industrial products like new invention	✖	✔	✖
Protects individual’s artistic work	✔	✖	✖
Prevent others from making or selling same products	✔	✔	✖
A tool used to protect names and words used by a business, to let consumers know the source of the products.	✖	✖	✔
Implementation	As the authorship work created, protection from copyright begins.	Needs to be approved from government authority	Needs to be approved from government authority.
Fees	Almost free	Fee is charged accordingly and is higher because the checking process of previous invention in past is lengthy and costly.	Fee is charged accordingly.
Maintenance fee	N/A	Fee is higher than Trademark	Fee is charged accordingly.
Place of Issue	Anywhere	Patent Office	IP India
Duration of validity	Author’s age + 60 years: ·         Literary ·         Music ·         Dramatic ·         Other artistic work 60 years: ·         Anonymous and pseudonymous works ·         Posthumous work ·         Cinematography films ·         Sound records ·         Government work ·         Public undertakings ·         International Agencies ·         Photographs	20 years	10 years
Applicability in other countries	Law is almost same with other countries	Procedure is different and varies from countries.	Procedure is different and varies from countries.