Copyright vs. patent: what's the difference

"Copyright" and "patent" are often confused, yet they protect different things and work differently. A short comparison makes clear what a deposit fixes — and what it does not.

Copyright

• Arises the moment a work is created, with no registration or fees.
• Protects the form of expression: text, code, design, music, a photograph — but not the idea itself.
• Lasts a long time (typically the author's life plus decades), with nothing to maintain.
• Rights can be transferred by contract — for a fee or gratuitously.

Patent

• Comes into being only after a grant by a patent office following examination.
• Protects a technical solution or idea (an invention, utility model, industrial design).
• Is limited in term and requires fees to maintain.
• Provides a formal protection document, but takes longer and costs more to obtain.

What a deposit fixes

A deposit belongs to the copyright side: it confirms the fact, time and immutability of a specific form of a work — that is, your priority and authorship at the moment of fixing. It does not test the patentability of an idea and does not replace a patent: if you need a monopoly on a technical solution, that is a separate route through a patent office.

When to choose which

• To pin down authorship of a text, design, code, content and its date — a deposit fits.
• To obtain an exclusive monopoly on an invention — you need a patent (a deposit can additionally fix the priority of the description).