What is the difference between a trademark, a copyright, and a patent for my Ontario business?

These are three separate federal regimes protecting different things, and an Ontario business can hold all three at once for different aspects of the same product. A trademark protects a brand identifier — a name, logo, or slogan that distinguishes your goods or services from a competitor's — registered through CIPO under the Trademarks Act, with protection that can last indefinitely as long as it is renewed and actually used. Copyright protects original creative expression — writing, software code, photos, designs, marketing materials — and arises automatically under the Copyright Act the moment the work is created, with no registration needed.

A patent protects a new, useful, and non-obvious invention or process under the Patent Act, and unlike copyright, it requires a formal application and examination before any rights exist at all; patent protection is also time-limited rather than indefinite. Many businesses only need one or two of these — a coffee shop may care mainly about its trademark, while a software company may rely on copyright in its code and trade secret protection for its algorithms. Figuring out which regime actually fits your situation before spending on registration is worth a short conversation with a lawyer.