You can get a copyright for a book or even a website in order to protect the intellectual property rights. It is necessary to understand something very basic about copyrights. A person owns the copyright for creating the work from the date of creation, regardless of whether the work was filed for copyright registration. Registering for a copyright only reaffirms the copyright but does not establish that the person owns the copyright. For example, if you wrote a manuscript for a book, someone plagiarised it and registered a copyright, you can prove it in the court that your work predates the plagiariser's work and demonstrate your copyright ownership. However, it is best to register your copyright ownership to avoid such legal entanglements.

To register your manuscript (for a book) for copyright, download the single-author form from www.copyright.gov. It is a one page form. Fill the form, attach the required fees and enclose the complete manuscript. Only one copy will do, unless the instructions say otherwise. In about 3 months you will get back the same form with copyright stamp affixed on it. If there is more than one author, the copyright registration procedure gets complex. To register a website contents, print out the appearance of the website, as well as the program code that generates the website and file for a copyright. Remember, copyrights are issued for the artistic design, appearance and overall looks. Copyrights are not issued for "methods", generic processes, and other broad claims. Read the rules carefully before filing for a website copyright.

Patents can be applied under different categories. The utility patent is the most common one where your show a new product and file for a patent. Process patent is where you file for industrial processes or mathematical methods. Patents are given to nonintuitive creations. It needs to be somewhat beyond common sense. For example, you cannot create a metallic spring with 49883 turns and claim a patent because nobody else has a patent for such a spring. However, you can create a metallic spring using 'memory alloys' that alternate between 4 and 5 turns and claim a patent, if nobody else has done that yet. To file for patent, obtain the form from www.uspto.gov; Fill out the form. Enclose the fees. That is only part of the preparation. Now extensively document your invention. If it is a small product you may even enclose it. If it is not easy to enclose, document it fully. Get 3-4 independent reputed examiners to evalute the invention and provide their certification that it is unique. Include photos, videos. Perform background research and show that nobody else had thought of it earlier even indirectly. Include scientific literature showing that your invention is a quantum step ahead of what already exists. Basically you must assist the patent examiner to quickly decide on your invention. If you make him do all the homework of going into a science library, you can bet he will send it back to you for rewriting.