A software patent grants ownership over the process used to operate a machine that uses software to achieve a task. There is controversy over the legitimacy of these patents, as software is also protected by copyright law.
A software patent is a legal patent relating to a device or machine that uses software in a particular way to achieve a certain task. This type of patent grants the inventor of that machine, or the company that employed him to develop the invention, ownership over the particular process used to operate the machine. There is a great deal of debate and controversy surrounding this type of patent, often due to too large patents being granted to various companies. A software patent can also be difficult to define easily since software is also protected by copyright law.
In general, a patent is a form of intellectual property relating to a particular device or invention that allows the inventor of that device to own it. This does not refer to ownership over a particular model or physical representation of that device, but rather ownership over the concept of that device and how it works. If someone creates a new machine that turns screws into wood or other surfaces in a way that hasn’t been developed before, then he could apply for a patent on that machine. This is similar to how a software patent can be established, although there are some problems with such patents.
A patent typically cannot cover an algorithm, just as a patent cannot be granted for a particular word or expression. Since computer software mainly consists of various algorithms and expressions of mathematical concepts, however, there is debate about how a software patent can be legally granted. The argument for the legitimacy of a software patent is that the way that software works inside a machine is the subject of the patent. In this regard, the patent is only to grant ownership over how a device uses the software to function, rather than the lines of code contained within the software itself.
This understanding of the legality of software patents, however, is still being developed, and patent licensors in various countries may not always demonstrate this basic understanding. Understanding these patents is only further confused by the fact that software is also protected by copyright law. A copyright is a form of intellectual property that covers works of art or artistic creations, and such laws have established software as literature under that property. Software patent opponents argue that such copyrights should be sufficient for software protection. Proponents of such patents, however, argue that a software patent is a distinct form of protection that covers actual functions not protected by copyright law.
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