Software Patent LawIf a person discovers or invents any vehicle, mechanical product, computer software or any other product, the Patent right is given to that person by the government. According to the patent law, other person cannot use that particular product until and unless that person has got the permission from the owner of the product. If a person discovers or invents computer software and is very beneficial, the owner cannot disclose about the product in front of any other person and for this then government provides the owner the right through software patent law. There are many other patent laws and also there are many patent lawyers. Patent right is granted by the state or the government to the patent holder for a limited period of time generally for twenty years. Once a patent right is obtained then no other person can use, sell, import, export the product. It is the responsibility of the patent holder of a software patent law to provide the full detailed information about the product to the individual or society or the respective companies. For obtaining the patent right the owner has to file the application first. There are number of formalities attached and it is not an easy task to obtain a patent right. Software Patent Law Earlier it was decided by the United States of America that patent right will be granted to only those products which are manufactured or invented by an individual or by the group of people. Patents cannot be granted to the scientific truths or mathematical expressions. Then later the United kingdom has decided that the invention will be considered as an invention only if it contributes something. If the computer programming helps in implementing a business process then patent right wont be granted, but if computer programming helps in industrial growth then patent right will be granted. Here we have just taken the example of United States of America and United Kingdom, but different laws are followed by different countries. Software patent law states that the patent holder should encourage the inventions, should tell each and everything, the advantages or disadvantages of the product. Software patent law also states that it is very important that the product should be of greater use to individual and society either directly or indirectly. There is a debate going on from last few years that whether the computers programs should be given the patent right or not. Different countries came at different conclusions as according to their requirements. Software patent licensing Different computer companies cross licenses the patent with other companies. This is the very important factor why the companies file the patents because they can easily negotiate cross licensing. In exchange of monetary royalties many software patent holders get the license. Some companies licenses products in order to increase the return on their innovations. The example of such company is IBM. The inventor must keep this thing in mind that the invention is obvious. It should be different from the previous software. |