1. The copyrighted content is not copied, and the patent protection method is not stolen.
2. The copyright can only be protected after the work is completed, and the patent can only be protected after the application for examination.
Software is protected by copyright, but only creative, novel and practical software technologies can apply for patents.
4. The identification of high-tech enterprises and the software copyright of related government projects are also identified and can be handled urgently. Compared with the long periodicity of patents, copyright has certain advantages in this respect.
Simply put, the software copyright can be obtained after the software creation is completed, which is often called soft copy registration, which plays a role similar to notarization.
Software patents are different. First of all, a patent must be applied to the Patent Office before it can be obtained. Secondly, the software patent application describes the idea of software. As can be seen from the above, copyright can enable you to take protective measures to prevent others from pirating your software. However, for your competitors, they are also software developers like you. They can study your software, understand your ideas, and write software with the same effect according to your ideas without infringing your copyright. At this time, the core thing in your software, that is, the idea of the software, cannot be protected by copyright.
Software patents are applied in the form of technical solutions, which is the content of your software flow chart. After authorization, the idea of software is protected. If others adopt this idea, it may constitute infringement. Therefore, the protection of software patents is much stronger than the protection of software copyright, which can protect the core things of software.
In addition, the legal basis adopted by the two is also different.
The basis of software copyright protection is copyright law and computer software protection regulations, and the basis of software patent protection is patent law. Of course, this does not mean that software patent protection is strong, but it also has its own shortcomings. When applying for a patent, the technical information of the patent needs to be made public, and the maintenance of the patent right also needs to pay an annual fee. The patent application review period is 2-3 years, while the software market cycle is short.