While the trio i.e., patent, trademark and copyright are intellectual properties, their significance is different. Patents: Patents grants the exclusive right of an invention to its inventor. It stops others from unauthorised use of the invention for a limited period. Trademarks: Trademark differentiates and protects any word, phrase, design, symbol or combination of all these that specifically identifies a brand or a business. Copyrights: Copyright protects the ownership of original works of any author. This includes literary works, musical works, artistic works, cinematographic works, dramatic works etc.