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Software Patents: Good or Evil?

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  • C.S. Somu

Abstract

“Chances are that patents on software, common practice in the US and on the brink of being legalized in Europe, in fact stifle innovation. Europe could still alter course. But India Has Joined the US Bandwagon†. Modern society relies heavily on computer technology. Without software, a computer cannot operate. Software and hardware work in tandem in today's information society. So it is no wonder that intellectual property protection of software is crucial not only for the software industry, but for other businesses as well. The economic philosophy behind granting patents and copyrights is the conviction that encouragement of individual effort by personal gain is the best way to advance public welfare through the talents of authors and inventors. Sacrificial days devoted to such creative activities deserve rewards commensurate with the services rendered. While software has been specifically identified by the Parliament and the courts as deserving of copyright protection, the scope of copyright protection afforded to software has been in flux in recent years. The Copyright Act, 1957 specifically state that copyright protection does not “extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery†. Copyright protection extends only to specific expression, and not to the ideas behind this expression - commonly referred to as the “idea-expression†dichotomy.

Suggested Citation

  • C.S. Somu, 2005. "Software Patents: Good or Evil?," Paradigm, , vol. 9(1), pages 102-105, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:padigm:v:9:y:2005:i:1:p:102-105
    DOI: 10.1177/0971890720050116
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