Certain types of expression that have independent function can not be protected by copyright. For example, a basic mathematical formula can not be copyrighted so that other individuals are excluded from using it. A book of such formulas, however, could be copyrighted to prevent someone else from copying the particular format and layout of the formulas within that particular book. 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.