When should a company seek a software patent rather than copyright protection for software?
The primary benefit of a software patent is the broad protection provided by the patent laws. An owner of a software patent may prevent all others from making, using, or selling the patented invention. In connection with software, an issued software patent may prevent others from utilizing a certain algorithm without permission, or may prevent others from creating software programs that perform a function in a certain way. In contrast, copyright law can only prevent the copying of a particular expression of an idea. In connection with computer software, copyright law can be used to prevent the total duplication of a software program, as well as the copying of a portion of software code, which would be literal infringement. Copyright law does provide some protection against non-literal infringement; however, courts have recently been reluctant to interpret copyright protection of computer software in a broad manner. In addition, the basic tenet of copyright law is that copyright will pr
