Computers are a big part of our lives so it would not be unheard of for anyone to question whether or not software-related inventions can be patented? The answer to this is laws and practices regarding this can differ from one country or region to another. For example, in some countries, “inventions” must have a “technical character” when it involves the meaning in patent law. In other countries, this requirement does not exist, which means software is generally patentable in these countries.
In order to obtain a software patent, the software invention must not fall under other non-patentable subject matter. It also has to fulfill other patentable criteria and industrial applicability. For example, abstract ideas or mathematical theories are not allowed in software-related patents but the patent has to be novel, non-obvious and useful.
Therefore, it is recommended that you check with a practicing lawyer that specializes in intellectual property or check with intellectual property offices in the country in which you are interested in obtaining a software patent.
If you have a piece of software you would like to patent, you should ask yourself the following questions: what is unique about my software, what is the desired function of my software, how does the software handle information, what is the user interface like, what problems does my software solve, and what parts of my software program would I like to protect with my patent? You should also look at your software patent from different viewpoints. You should look at it from the user’s point of view and also from the computer’s point of view.
There is an alternative if your patent is not a viable option for your software invention. You could try to copyright it. Usually, computer programs are protected under copyright under literary works. Copyright protection starts with creation or fixation of the work, such as software or a webpage and you do not have to deposit copies of the work to obtain copyright protection. But, copyright protection only includes expressions, not ideas, procedures, methods of operations or mathematical concepts. In other words, the “concept” is not protected. Many companies tend to protect the object code of computer programs as a copyright and the source code is kept as a trade secret.
You should always hire a patent lawyer to discuss with you whether your software invention is patentable and he/she can walk you through the necessary steps to determine this and to help you file the patent application.