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To: elmatador who wrote (6722)	8/5/2001 11:06:57 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

I just asked my husband, who is a patent examiner, and he agrees that most software really shouldn't be patented. It's not a device, nor is it a process. Nor does it need to be patented, copyright law would protect it. But some software is patented - not all software meets the definition of what can be patented. >>Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents of discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or compositions of matters, or any new useful improvement thereof. Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.<< uspto.gov I helped on a case where software was patented - the patent lawyer cut a lot of funny shapes out of paper and put them on the glass of the photocopy machine, and laid down the pages of code carefully so that some of it showed and some was obscured by the paper cutouts. Can't remember whether he copied all the code or just some sample pages, but I think it was sample pages. The software was part of an encryption system. It encrypted data at one end and de-encrypted it at the other, so that's a process. I've never written software so I don't know whether it's a process or not, but I use a lot of software - Windows, Netscape, WordPerfect, Excel, QuickBooks, and maybe a dozen more. Seems like the software performs a process to me. My guess is that the reason to NOT want to patent software is that it doesn't last very long compared to copyright. Patents only last for 20 years from the filing date, while copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 50 years. It is also expensive to get a patent compared to copyright. In the US, you don't have to register what you wrote to get a copyright. Registration and notice help you protect your rights and are necessary to get monetary damages, but your copyright begins when you create the work.