In the United States, you are granted a copyright in your work the moment you create it, even if you do not register it. As long as your work is original and contains a basic level of creativity, you can claim ownership and protection. However, without registering your work, this protection is incomplete. You cannot enforce your rights in a court of law in America without registration.

A trademark protects a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of goods or services. This is what we commonly associate with brand names and brand recognition. If properly maintained, a trademark can last forever.

A patent protects an invention, including its functionality or design. According to 35 U.S.C. § 101, it covers "any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof." A patent typically gives the owner the exclusive right to manufacture products or employ processes covered by the patent for 20 years from the earliest priority date.

A copyright protects artistic works such as books, photographs, artwork, movies, and music. It grants the creator exclusive rights to use and distribute their work, generally lasting for the life of the author plus 70 years.

While you do not have to register your work to receive copyright protection, registration offers several additional protections:

The ability to file a lawsuit: If your work is not registered with the copyright office, you cannot file a suit for copyright infringement.
Statutory damages: Without timely registration, you cannot sue for statutory damages and must prove actual damages caused by the infringement.
Protection from imported infringing copies: Registration allows you to record the registration with the U.S. Customs Service, protecting against the importation of infringing copies.
Firm claim of ownership: Registration makes it more difficult for infringers to claim ignorance, as it acts as a notice of your ownership.
Image of establishment: In some industries, such as film scripts, copyright registration is often a prerequisite for being taken seriously by agents and other industry professionals.

There are a number of different categories (also known as International Classes) to identify particular goods or services. The USPTO has a pre-determined list of trademark categories to choose from. It may be beneficial to register a mark within multiple classes (e.g., the company name and the ability to sell t-shirts with the company name on them). Note that there is a USPTO filing fee for each selected category. Check out the Trademark Engine's User Manual for broader descriptions of each available category.

Before picking a category, it may help to determine if you are selling a good or a service. Goods are generally physical items like nuts, bolts, beer, and t-shirts. Services generally focus on particular activities such as legal, consulting, or accounting services. In some cases, it may be helpful to register under multiple classes.

The selection is important because a registered trademark generally protects only the category listed in the application. Broader categories may provide more protection, but if the category does not accurately fit the applied-for good or service, the registration could be invalidated. Changing the class designation can be difficult and may require an additional filing fee.

Bear in mind that a company name and particular product names may each be trademarked separately and may each involve different categories. Each registration would require the payment of additional fees to the USPTO and to the Trademark Engine.

Determine whether you are selling a good or service.

Try to be as accurate as possible because filing in the wrong class can be the basis of a rejection by the USPTO.

Pick the most accurate category from the USPTO list. These are all included in the drop-down menu on the Trademark Engine website.

Review the published information about categories, included in the Trademark Engine's User's Manual for more on the possible categories.

Focus on the finished product to the consumer and not on the ingredients that go into the goods or service.

Focus on what is actually sold to consumers and not extra things like the fact that employees may have shirts or hats with the company logo.

Don’t think about the packaging. A fruit seller probably doesn’t sell paper goods just because its logo appears on the packaging that comes with the fruit.

Although more expensive, some companies file under more than one category when they sell multiple products.

In most cases, a copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. For example, if the author of the work died in 2070, the copyright would typically last until 2140. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works, the duration of the copyright is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.