What each one covers
Copyright protects original expression, such as text, code, images, music, and video, and it arises automatically once the work is fixed in some form. It does not protect ideas, methods, or functional features, however clever. A patent protects inventions such as machines, processes, and compositions of matter that are new and not obvious, and it comes only through examination and grant by the USPTO. A design patent covers the ornamental look of a product, which overlaps in places with what copyright can reach for artwork applied to products. Trademarks, which protect names and logos, are a separate system again and are often the right answer when the question is really about a brand.
When a project needs both
Software is the common example. The source code is protected by copyright, which stops copying of the code but not someone writing different code that does the same thing. A patent on a technical method the software performs can reach that independent version, though software-related claims face eligibility questions and need careful drafting. A consumer product may combine a patentable mechanism, a design patent on its shape, copyrighted packaging art, and a trademark on the name. Each right has its own filing route, cost, and length of protection, and the patent route is the one where public disclosure before filing can cost you rights.
Sorting it out before you spend
Before filing anything, it helps to describe what a competitor would most want to copy, whether that is the code, the function, the look, or the name. That answer usually points to the right tool. Bring a short description, any drafts or prototypes, and the dates you have shown or plan to show the project publicly. We use the first conversation to map which parts of the project fall under patent and copyright, what can wait, and what should be filed before the next public step.
