Intellectual property: any product of the human mind which the law protects against unauthorized use by others. 


Copyright: a form of protection provided to the authors of \"original works of authorship, \" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. The 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies, to perform or display the copyrighted work publicly. 


Patent: the grant of a property right to the inventor of an invention. What is granted is the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention -- not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import it. The term of a new patent is generally 20 years. 