|
SOFTWARE PROTECTION
There are two main methods of protecting your
software programs, patents, and copyrights. A software process may be
subject to patent protection so long as it meets the statutory
requirements set forth in Sections 101, 102 and 103 of Title 35 of the
United States Code. (See patent section of this site.) Many software
companies, hardware manufacturers, and individuals have capitalized by
protecting their software methods through either patents or copyrights.
In fact, large corporations generate streams of revenue by patenting
various implementations of computer processes and hardware. Their
strategy involves patenting and protecting many of the least costly
methods for implementing software and hardware. Competitors must then
either pay a licensing fee or implement a more costly software or
hardware solution, thereby cutting into profits or forcing the
competitor to compete in a disadvantageous manner.
Copyrights are also useful in protecting software.
Copyright protection subsists in original works of authorship fixed in
any tangible medium of expression. In fact the assembling of
pre-existing software programs and routines may be subject to copyright
protection. |
