While copyright law applies to creative works, other intellectual property such as formulas, inventions, and branding are protected by other types of laws. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the agency that grants patents and registers trademarks.
The USPTO defines a patent as "A property right granted by the government of the United States of America to an inventor 'to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States' for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted."
Patents can fall into one of three categories - utility, plant, and design - the first two of which can either be provisional or non-provisional. In order for someone to receive a patent, they must follow the steps provided by the USPTO.
The USPTO defines a trademark as "any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services." Trademarks are established as soon as you start using one for your brand, but it has fewer protections (mainly geographical limitations) than a registered trademark.