Software Patents

[Cromulent]

I've come up with what I think is an original invention when it comes to software. Obviously I'm not keen on being very specific about what it is at the moment but no one seems to have anything like this on their systems and I can see that it would useful in a wide range of applications on the internet.

I was just wondering what the process is to get a patent? I've never done anything like that in the past and I'm very keen to protect my idea as I think it could be a real money winner. I've done the hard work on my side of things with getting the system up and running. Now all I need to do is protect the idea and invention.

I've heard getting a patent in the UK is really expensive because you have to hire patent lawyers and all kinds of stuff. Is that true? Has anyone here gone through the process and if so can you offer some advice?

Any help is appreciated .

 

[Deleted member 281732]

I wouldn't bother. In software, ideas are pretty much worthless. Execution is everything. If you patent your software product, what's to stop me from reverse-engineering it, and then basing my business in China? Or… Nowhere?

 

[Gecko001]

This has been discussed on this forum before. The consensus seems to be that you cannot patent software in the UK unless it is linked to something physical. In the USA the patent laws are different. More types of software can be patented there as far as I know.

 

[profitxchange]

I agree if you are not into patents you will not succeed, its very expensive - you need professional help and you would not have the resources to defend any breach. best to get it to market and be the leader

 

[Fearghal]

The easiest way to make it difficult for people to steal your software is not to share it. Host it as a SaaS offering which means the source never gets into the hands of anyone except your staff.

If thats not an option you can try obfuscation but really if someone is truly determined it will only slow them down.

 

[F_B]

Sorry if this response is a bit late - one of the specialisms in our firm is software patents.
Software per se is excluded from patentability, as it is considered a literary work, and therefore protected by copyright (this is not much use as software providing the same function can often be rewritten in a different language without copying the original).

However, a method using software to achieve a technical effect is patentable. In the UK there are 5 signposts which are used as indicators of an invention using software as follows:

i. whether the claimed technical effect has a technical effect on a process which is carried on outside the computer.

ii. whether the claimed technical effect operates at the level of the architecture of the computer; that is to say whether the effect is produced irrespective of the data being processed or the applications being run.

iii. whether the claimed technical effect results in the computer being made to operate in a new way.

iv. whether the program makes the computer a better computer in the sense of running more efficiently and effectively as a computer.

v. whether the perceived problem is overcome by the claimed invention as
opposed to merely being circumvented.

If you consider your software to provide any of the above, it is possible that you may obtain a patent to use of your software as a solution.

You don't need to hire a lawyer in the UK to file or prosecute a patent application, however, I really wouldn't recommend it for a patent involving software as these are a specialism.

As regards the usefulness of a patent, they can be used to obtain a reduction in corporation tax (to 10%) in the UK through the patent box scheme (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/corporation-tax-the-patent-box).