Answer two or three questions and we'll point you to the kind of protection that fits.
Four different laws protect four different things, and most of the confusion comes from the fact that one product usually involves more than one of them. A logo is a trademark because it tells customers who made something, and it is also copyrighted artwork. An app is copyrighted code, and the method inside it may be patentable. What follows is the whole quiz written out, so you can read it rather than click it.
Pick the closest fit. Some things qualify for more than one type, and we’ll tell you when that happens.
A plain word mark and a logo are protected a little differently.
Software is protected a little differently from other creative works, so this points you to the right path.
A name or slogan that tells customers who is behind a product is protected by trademark. A federal registration gives you nationwide rights and lets you use the ® symbol.
You land here if you answer “A word, name, or slogan”.
A logo works as a trademark because it identifies your brand. If it is original artwork, it is also protected by copyright. For a brand, the trademark comes first. Registering the copyright adds protection against people copying the design itself.
Also worth knowing: Copyright (on the artwork).
You land here if you answer “A graphic logo” or “Both a name and a logo”.
Original writing, art, music, photography and video are protected by copyright as soon as they are created. Registering within three months of publication makes statutory damages and attorney’s fees available if someone copies the work.
You land here if you answer “Another creative work”.
Software code is protected by copyright, which is the quicker and cheaper route. If the software does something genuinely new in how it works, a utility patent may also cover that function. Patents are a larger, specialist project.
Also worth knowing: Utility patent (if the function is novel).
You land here if you answer “Software or an app”.
How a device, process or method works is protected by a utility patent, which the USPTO grants after examination. Patent law is technical and the deadlines are strict: in the U.S. you generally must file within one year of any public disclosure or sale, and most other countries require filing before any disclosure. This is separate from trademarks and copyrights, and it is handled by a registered patent attorney or agent.
You land here if you answer “An invention or how something works”.
The ornamental look of a product is protected by a design patent. If that look also tells buyers who makes the product, trademark law can protect it as “trade dress.” The two often overlap, and which one fits depends on whether the look is decorative or identifies the source.
Also worth knowing: Trade dress (trademark).
You land here if you answer “The look or shape of a product”.
A formula, method or list is protected as a trade secret only while it stays secret, and there is no registration. Protection comes from NDAs, confidentiality clauses and limits on who has access. Filing it publicly would end the protection.
You land here if you answer “Confidential business information”.
Trademark protects what identifies you in the market: a name, a slogan, a logo. It is the only one of the four that can last indefinitely, because it lives on use rather than on a fixed term. Copyright protects an original work the moment it is fixed: writing, art, music, photographs, code. Patents protect how something works, or how a product looks, and they are examined, expensive and time-limited. Trade secrets are protected by not telling anyone, which means registration would destroy the very thing you are protecting.
If the answer is a trademark, the next question is whether the name is available, which is a different question with a different answer: what a trademark search covers, or trademark versus copyright if you are still deciding between the two. The four types of intellectual property covers all of them side by side.
General information about U.S. intellectual property law, not legal advice about your situation. LaunchTime IP is software, not a law firm.