There are four basic types of legal protection for intellectual property offered by the USPTO: design patent, utility patent, copyright, and trademark. Utility patents work alongside design patents and cover the practical use and function of an item. These two should be mutually exclusive, which means that some design patents will be rejected if they’re considered to also cover a practical use too. An example of this could be a design patent claim for the shape of the inside of a washing machine, as it would also affect the functionality of how many items of clothing it could hold per load. Utility patents also last longer on average, typically expiring up to 20 years after registration.
Copyright is more personal than a patent, as it protects the originality of the particular concept. This means that the whole concept of the design must qualify as entirely original, rather than just the appearance of it. Copyrighting often transfers to less physically measurable creations like literary works or songs and lasts for considerably longer than a design patent. Typically, copyright lasts for a lifetime and often longer still. Objects can be covered by both design patents and copyrights: one of the most famous examples of this is the Statue of Liberty.
Lastly, trademarks tend to be concerned with slogans, catchphrases, logos, or symbols. These are used to guarantee that a particular product comes from a particular brand. Trademarks can last forever, so they’re a good way to add protection to an expiring design or utility patent if it has become a feature of your brand. The design patent that covered Coca Cola’s unique bottle shape has long since expired, but it became such a hit that Coca Cola took out a USPTO trademark on it, meaning it can never be copied within the United States.