Businesses with valuable IP like software have to watch out for theft from employees. Theft that happens from outside the business occurs, too, but not as often.
Having employees sign Non-disclosure Agreements is one way to protect company IP. Restricting employee access to IP like the software in development is another way.
It covers these crimes and how to protect against them. Another way to protect IP is to use the law to protect it. That means getting a patent , copyright, or a trademark. Then if someone does steal your property, you have legal grounds to prosecute. When you want to protect software IP, both a copyright and a patent offer legal protection.
Each option covers different parts of IP protection. Some people prefer one or the other, while others go for both. Alternatively, you can choose to treat your software as a trade secret. Deciding what to do is an important step in protecting your software. Trademarks are another option, but they don't protect your IP software code. What they protect is the name of the software or a symbol you use to advertise the software. Trademarking your software's brand name is a good way to keep others from marketing a product under a confusingly similar name.
Copyright law defines copyright as : "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. Copyright Law. So the way you express an idea, like a work of fiction or software in code, falls under Copyright law.
A copyright grants you specific rights in terms of your software. When you hold the copyright to software code, you can:.
An official copyright registration is easy to get and doesn't cost you much. Copyrights last for the lifetime of the person who created the work, plus 70 years after that person's death. If you're copyrighting something you bought from a person you hired to create it, the copyright lasts for 95 years after you first publish that work, or years after the work is created, whichever comes first.
Some programmers worry about sending the code to the U. Copyright Office. If it's at the Copyright Office, you might worry competitors can look it up and take copies. However, you only have to send the first 25 pages and the last 25 pages, to identify your software. If you have trade secrets in the software, you can black those out. Stealing from the software is more complicated than just plagiarizing because the software is more than just code.
Software is an invention or an idea. Copyright law only protects how that idea is written down. Because a software program does something specific, protecting against copying might not be enough.
Someone could use different code but still steal your invention. To protect a process, like the function of software, you need a patent. A patent will protect things like:. You can use two types of patents to protect software: utility and design. Utility protects what the software does. Design protects any decorative part of your software. Unlike copyright law, patent law protects the invention itself.
That way, someone can't create a software program with different code that does the exact same thing your software does. But the patent doesn't protect your specific lines of code against plagiarism the way copyright does. Keep in mind: you register your copyright, so you aren't applying for anything. You do apply for a patent, which means you might not receive the patent. If you include information in your published patent application, that information is no longer a trade secret.
Getting a software patent has been the subject of lots of legislation, including Supreme Court cases. The precedence for software patents isn't always clear, making getting a software patent even more difficult. A patent in the U. If you need a patent in other countries, you have to apply in each of those countries.
This presents a risk, since parties may not want to sign an assignment document after project completion. A company must ensure that it truly owns its intellectual property to attract meaningful investment. As technology changes, it is important to consult with intellectual property experts to protect your IP. Yes — all forms of intellectual property can be assigned through a written agreement, including copyrights.
Under the default statute, the author owns a copyright, unless a written agreement says otherwise. Only 9 specific categories fall under the Works Made for Hire provision of 17 U. Skip to content Press Enter. Mobile App Code — Work for Hire Most times, however, the company contracts mobile app code authorship to a third-party non-employee.
Can a copyright be assigned? Who owns a copyright? What works can be considered works made for hire? You agree to hire Shortcut's developer as a "consultant" and work together to incorporate the useful features of Shortcut into GoGetter Version 2.
Everyone gets right to work, with your consultant acting as the project manager. Fast forward one year. GoGetter Version 2. Progress has been slower than you would have liked. You're ready to sign up beta customers, begin your marketing campaign and work out some of the bugs after commercial release.
But your consultant is a perfectionist and wants to wait. Against his wishes, you decide to go forward. Without warning, your consultant apparently with hurt feelings announces that he is no longer interested in working on the project and has accepted an offer with your main competitor.
But wait: In your haste to get the business done, you never signed an agreement clarifying your rights to the source code formerly known as Shortcut, which now is a critical part of GoGetter 2.
In fact, it's not clear to you how much of GoGetter 1. Your consultant tells you that his soon-to-be new employer is interested in some of the features of Shortcut. Suddenly, you're worried that the last year spent developing the next version of your only product may be at risk, as your consultant believes he has just as much right to the code as you have. Copyright laws should force every software developer to think carefully before collaborating with another developer to create enhancements to an existing application.
Unless you plan ahead, you run the risk that your exclusive rights to develop, adapt and sell modifications to the original product are no longer so exclusive. Your risks lie in two areas: the copyright in GoGetter 2.
Your company undoubtedly owns the copyright to Version 1. But your consultant's work on GoGetter 2. Legally, joint authorship means your consultant is a full and equal co-owner of the copyright. In that case, GoGetter and the consultant own an undivided ownership interest in the software.
Both parties can do with it whatever they like, and each has a right to receive a share of the profits the other earns from its sale.
Importantly, neither can be barred from using or reproducing it. Even if the consultant's contributions were not significant enough to create joint authorship, he may still own the copyright to a "derivative work" of Version 1. Although derivative rights are more limited than joint authorship rights, the consultant would still own the copyright to the incremental code he authored, which embodies the bulk of the modifications that make up Version 2.
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