[header] How to protect your intellectual property [title] Know the three types of intellectual property. [step] There are three different types of intellectual property that you and your business may have created. Each can be protected under the law, but there are different categories for each one. 
A shortcut to remember the differences between the three is that a patent protects the invention, the copyright protects the artistic expression of the invention, and the trademark protects the brand name. [substeps] If you have invented an item or system that is new, useful, original, or ornamental, then you may be able to patent it.