There are three different types of patents granted by the United States government: a utility patent, a design patent, and a plant patent.
Each type of patent protects a different type of invention. For example, a utility patent protects structure or utilitarian features or steps; a design patent protects appearance features; and a plant patent protects asexually reproduced plants including cultivated hybrids, mutants, sports and seedlings not found in an uncultivated state.