No, these terms are not interchangeable, but they all serve the same purpose – to protect original ideas, creative works and inventions (all formally known as “intellectual property”).
A patent is an exclusive property right granted to an inventor for an initial period of 20 years. Essentially, it prevents others from making, using, or selling the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States.
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of goods of one party from those of others.
A copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of “original works of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works.
Let’s say someone invented a new mobile music player. A patent would protect the device itself, a trademark would protect the logo, and a copyright would protect the jingle written for the commercial advertising the device. Make sense?
