A software patent attorney is a person who has the technical knowledge to understand software innovations and help you register your inventions with the Patent Office. Although it is very difficult to define a software patent, you can patent any software which helps in adding new functions to a computer readable medium. Only a patent attorney with knowledge in the field of software can understand the various functionalities and processes associated with a software program.
General Consensus Required For Software Patents
The first software patent ever given with the help of a software patent attorney was in the year 1981, in the field of heat treatment of rubber. Since then a number of software inventions have been registered with the patents office. But there are countries in which software patents are not registered as yet. This is making the task of software developers more difficult. The US patents office is granting patents to software developers. As a result, a lot of big companies like Microsoft, IBM, Siemens, Sodapdf and AT&T have registered thousands of software patents till date. IBM has taken over 31,995 US patents followed by HP with 21,000 patents, according to a report published in 2003. Processing of patent applications can take a long time as the United States Patents and Trademarks Office receives over 350,000 applications in a year.
Software development is a very innovative process in which there is always room for improvement and hence the need to patent the innovation. Therefore there is a great need that the software patent attorney you appoint to patent your products is a well informed and reputed person who is fully well versed with the latest inventions and trends in the software industry as well as the patent law. You can also employ an online patent attorney who has his own website to patent your software products. An online presence makes communication easier.
Your software patent attorney should also have complete knowledge of cross – licensing agreements which support a higher level of technological development in the field of software development. It is also possible to protect your intellectual property rights and your marketing rights with the help of software patents. Therefore, software patents have infused a new energy level in the working of software programmers who now feel well protected under the umbrella of software patent. Moreover, once your product is patented you can take the help of the Invention Development Organization to market your product.