What is the difference between a copyright and a patent?

Copyright law is a set of laws that protect the rights of an individual or business to the creative products they have created. Copyright law in Texas, like all other states, is based on federal copyright laws which have been in effect for more than 200 years. A copyright is a form of legal protection given to an original work of authorship. This means that the creator of the work can control how it is used and reproduced. A copyright does not protect the idea behind the work, only the expression of the idea. This means that someone can have the same idea or concept but must express it differently from the original author in order to stay within the bounds of copyright law. A patent is a form of legal protection given to a specific invention or product. A patent gives the patent holder exclusive rights to the invention or product, meaning that no one else can make, use, or sell it without permission from the patent holder. Unlike copyright, a patent does not protect ideas, only the tangible embodiments of those ideas (things made from the ideas). Patents must meet certain criteria, like being novel and not obvious, in order to be granted and maintained. In summary, a copyright is a legal protection that applies only to the expression of an idea, whereas a patent is a legal protection that applies to the physical embodiment of an idea.

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