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Look before you Leap – Drafting Software Patents

已有 40 次阅读  2013-04-30 19:19   标签hollister  vuitton 

Software inventions are difficult to be articulated unlike other inventions. Software is an abstract thing; doesn't have any physical form but gets executed using hardware. ?Software programs are illustrated using flowcharts,celine pas cher, psuedocode and graphical methods but there aren't enough to describe the work effectively. ?Software patent prosecution is completely dependent on the specification and the claims of the invention in spite the invention being unique and non-obvious,polo ralph lauren. Hence the application needs to be drafted by someone who has extensive technological knowledge both in hardware and software as well as an expert in business and legal fields. Software patent applications have to be tailor made for each invention as there isn't one document to fit all.

Algorithm description provides information related to data values and data interfaces. The data structure description captures the structural details of the software – data fields, data stored in the data field. Interface description or interface specification captures the details of the software interfaces and inventive elements to be protected.?

A well written algorithm should be free from ambiguity, absolute and distinct.

Descriptions should include multiple levels of information of the invention – architectural level to lower level describing the implementation process,karen millen outlet. If only high level description is presented in the application, then the claims of the application may get rejected due to being obvious. Higher level descriptions are often combinations of commonly known elements of other software inventions. Inventive elements must be distinguished at a level other than the general implementation level,mulberry.

With the booming market and heightened competition, software inventions needs to be protected by patents from being copied,louis vuitton, executed and reproduced by others. The growth forces companies to pursue software patent portfolios aggressively in order to compete with their competitors and grow their businesses successfully. Software patents may run into millions of dollars and hence care should be taken to draft the applications properly. A well drafted software patent application could make a crucial difference in receiving the patent. Mostly software inventions don't get patented not because of not meeting the requirements of novelty, non-obviousness and utility use but instead the claims and the specifications are not articulated properly.

Algorithm description is used to describe solutions to problems either in pseudo-code or flowcharts. Algorithm description consists of different components and care should be taken while drafting the components like the purpose, what is manipulated by the algorithm,louis vuitton outlet, techniques, justification and analysis. Different characteristics of the algorithm have to be emphasized based on the based on the audience and purpose. For an existing problem,mulberry outlet, data structure and techniques needed to be stressed.

Carefully drafted software patent applications prepared by techno-functional experts will ensure patentability of the invention apart from increasing the profits by licensing and royalties. The best way to understand how to draft a patent application is to take a look at already issued patents in that particular jurisdiction. By drafting the application properly a lot of time and money can be saved as it would reduce the time taken for receiving the patent grant and would also avoid unnecessary litigation over software patent infringement.

Data structure descriptions must include structural details like specific data fields and what data is stored in those fields, relationship between the data values and their functional details on how the data would be used. Interface description should express the key variables that have passed through the interface,karen millen, the functional results of the variables, and the order and conditions of exchanges. Interface descriptions are more susceptible to copying and illegal usage when compared to data structures and algorithms. The commercial aspect of the patent should also be considered while drafting the claims. The patent application should include a method of manufacture claim for receiving higher royalties; claiming the invention's environment and thus covering the entire system rather the software program alone.

Claim defines the scope of the invention and it is only the claims that get you the patent. The purpose of a claim is to indicate what elements that should not infringe the patent and not the description of the invention. Broader claims provide greater protection if written carefully to avoid design around and most of them are independent claims distinguishing the claimed invention from the prior art,michael kors outlet. Narrow claims are susceptible to design around as these are dependant claims,mulberry. Narrow claims are written to represent the broader claims to make the claims more powerful and valuable and also to provide backup in case prior arts are discovered that invalidates the broader claims. Claims consist of algorithm descriptions, data structure descriptions and interface descriptions.

Specification provides the description on how to operate the invention for a skilled person in the art to use the invention without further help. Including source codes is useful in some cases. While drafting the specification, care should be taken to understand what would be considered as obvious by a skilled programmer and which would not be. And at times this makes the invention obvious in spite it solving a long pending problem. Block diagrams and flowcharts can be used to show the implementation method in a sequence of steps which visualizes the description of the invention. Apart from the diagrams and flowcharts, data structures,coach outlet online, algorithms and graphical interfaces would show how the software invention is implemented. The descriptions should show the novelty of the invention on the how the invention operates, the data structures and how it solves the problem,michael kors.

With so much of complexity taking professional help for drafting and prosecuting a patent application is the best option to avoid time delay and money loss. A patent application has three essential parts – the specification,ralph lauren, the claims and the uses of the invention apart from other details like the title of the invention, names of the inventors and the contact details,hollister france, a short abstract and the declaration,celine pas cher.

Claims are the ones which get the invention the patent hence care should be taken while preparing the claims. Most of the times,hollister pas cher, the claims and the specifications are written in describing the invention in the software programmer's (coder) language. It becomes more of an operational manual illustrating how to execute the invention rather focusing on the novelty, non-obviousness and the uniqueness of the invention. The complication extends further as there isn't a single global software patent granting body for global software which has servers in one location and the client programs running at different locations. Every country has its own policy in granting patents; different rules and regulations in governing the patentability.

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