copyright vs. patent

[Guest]

Hi, what is the difference between patenting software and copyrighting it?
I've seen both done. Which one is easier/cheaper to get in the US? Also, can a hardware invention (lets say a new chair) be copyrighted?

Thanks
-Ben

[random_person]

I'm not sure this is on topic...please let me know. But I'm a nice guy so...

Here is an article that tries to define the line between the patenting and copyrigting of software

http://www.bitlaw.com/software-patent/history.html

From the article...

[random_person]

More bitlaw links that should establish which software is patentable and which is copyrightable:

http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/obtaining.html
http://www.bitlaw.com/patent/requirements.html

[random_person]

http://www.bitlaw.com/source/soft_pats/final.html

[dbotkin]

Copyright is by far the easiest thing to obtain -- you need do nothing. Anything you write is copyrighted the instant you create it. Patents are another matter. So far I have had near unanimous advice never to patent anything. A patent simply makes all the details of your invention or innovation available to everyone. It doesn't make it much easier or any less expensive to sue someone for infringement, nor does it guarantee success in a lawsuit or that even if you do win you'll ever collect a dime.

My father is listed as the inventor on some 20-odd patents, all developed for his employers. He still invents new things, but even he says he'd never bother patenting them. He'd rather license or sell the idea to someone else and let them do the heavy lifting. In my own case, the useful lifespan of most things I develop are probably less than the time it would take to get a patent granted, let alone expire. Anyway, there are countless web resources out there, as well as some excellent (and smoe less than useful) books available from your library, local bookstore or Amazon.

[random_person]

dbotkin is right: copyright is free and comes into effect as soon as the work is in a "tangible" medium...such as computer hard drive space.

i did read though that you must register the copyright with the government before you are allowed to sue someone for violating it. so if you ever plan on making money from something you write/code, its probably best to register the copyright sooner than later. Plus if you didn't register, i imagine you would have a much harder time proving original authorship if someone stole parts of your code, used it in their own project and then they filed copyright first.

[guest]

random_person, dbotkin - thanks a lot for the great info. One more thing though - let's say you invent a chair (that is a smart chair with an embedded PIC - now we're on topic ), and then copyright the blueprint/design. You start making money off the chair by licensing the design or having it manufactured. Can you sue a person if they try to do the same using your exact design?

-Ben

[random_person]

again, i'm no legal or business expert but i'll take a stab...

http://patentbasics.com/indesign.html

From what I read here, I've deduced that while blueprints/design schematics are protectable by copyright, the device (PIC embedded chair) and its design, as an idea, generally are not. What this means is that anyone could buy the chair, take it apart/reverse engineer it and build the same thing to sell. However, they could not use the blueprint/schematic to do this, nor could they reproduce/distribute that blueprint/schematic beyond the boundaries of "fair use".

Now, if they stole your PIC code from the device through disassembly or what not and used it in their own product...they might be infringing on some sort of intellectual property rights. also, if any part of the chair's design value were deemed "pictoral, graphic, or sculptural" and not integral to the function of the chair itself, that part would be considered protected by copyright.

So this leads me to believe that for un-patented industrial/mechanical devices, it would be really hard to prevent anyone from copying your basic design, given the resources. I guess thats easy to notice since many successful and "original" commerical products have their own wave of spin-offs after time.

If anyone wants to correct my understanding of this, please do!