Better known as ©, a copyright protects works by authors, composers, or artists. A copyright can cover books, T-shirt designs, computer games, movies, mp3s, even answers to your homework. You wrote it, you can copyright it.

This is the ownership of ideas- the products of your mind. Just because you can't touch them, doesn't mean they aren't yours. You think it, it's your intellectual property.

Granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a patent stops anyone other than you from making, using or selling an invention in the United States. An idea itself can't be patented. It must be developed. You invent it, you get to patent it.

Better known as &trade or ®, a trademark covers the name or logo of a product or service. Sometimes a product's appearance or packaging is a trademark. For example, the name Coca-Cola®, the logo, and the shape of a Coke® bottle are all registered trademarks.

Trade secrets protect secrets used in business. How a product is made or what it's made of can be protected as trade secrets, for example, the formula for Coca-Cola®. Wow, this glossary sure is making us thirsty.