A patent grants to the owner the exclusive right to use, or license others to use, the inventor's processes, machines, manufacturing systems or compositions of matter. Thus a patent can protect a computer chip, the computer into which the chip is installed, the method used to create the computer chip, the material that the chip is made from, as well as the methods used to create the materials from which the chip is made. Patent protection does require that a formal patent be obtained from the patent office. This is not as simple as copyright registration. The patent application must contain a sufficient description of the invention that the patent examiners can determine if the issuance of a patent is appropriate.
Patent protection is limited to actual invention.
In the same manner laws of nature and science can not be patented. Of course, a machine design to use gravity for a productive function can be patented. There are other restrictions on the issuance of patents. The invention must not be obvious to someone skilled in the particular field at issue and it must be novel. Although a patent is more difficult to obtain than a copyright, in many ways patent protection is more extensive than copyright protection.