Do you think that your company’s software isn’t patentable? You might be surprised to find out that software is patentable, and that you are leaving potentially valuable software patents on the table.
We have found that many software companies believe that a product must be completely groundbreaking to be patentable, or that only an entirely new product can be patented. These and other misconceptions often lead companies not to pursue patent protection for inventions that could be the basis for valuable patents. It is better to take the time to work with a patent attorney and determine whether or not pursuing software patents make sense for your business than for your business to miss out on that potential value entirely.
If your company doesn’t obtain patents because you have any of these misconceptions, you run the risk that your competitors will patent their inventions, putting your company at risk of being sued for patent infringement without any patents of your own that you can use defensively.
Consider whether your company is developing any technology that might be worth patenting in light of the following:
- Even relatively small improvements to existing features in software often can be patented.
- Even a single new feature in an existing product may be patentable.
- Features that took relatively little time and money to develop can be patented if they are innovative enough.
- Both features that are visible to the software’s users and algorithms that run inside the software and are invisible to the user can be patented.
- Combining existing software components together in innovative ways can be patented.
Does your company have any technology that might be patentable in light of the above? If so, contact us now to explore your options and avoid leaving potentially valuable patents on the table. We recommend that you do so quickly, because your patent rights can easily be forfeited forever if you miss a deadline or if a competitor files for a patent application before you.
