Copyright? Patent?

[mitchellfamily]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

I have started to make wooden toys and am considering marketing them on the web. Some of my ideas are unique and I would hate to see someone look at my site and start making my designs and selling them. I have the designs on paper and saved as a .cad file on the computer. How would the designs be protected? copyright or patent?

Thanks
Thomas

 

[divgradcurl]

As it stands right now, they would be protected by copyright, as copyright protection extends automatically to creative works once they are created. However, if you want further protection, you could file for a registeed copyright or a design patent.