Copyright protects original works of authorship and grants authors exclusive rights for a limited time. It applies to literary, musical, dramatic, and other artistic works. Copyright does not protect ideas, systems, or methods. Infringement can occur through reprinting, imitating, reproducing, converting, performing, or dealing with unauthorized copies.
Patents grant exclusive rights for new, inventive, and industrially applicable inventions for 20 years. Patent owners can license or sell their rights to others. Designs protect the aesthetic appearance or features of articles. Trademarks distinguish goods and indicate their source, and infringement involves unauthorized use of identical marks for identical goods/services.