Software is too functional to be covered by copyright and too abstract to be embraced by patent law. So how can it be protected?
Has the perfect method of protecting software in India been found? The answer is no, due to the nature of software. Software is considered to be too functional to be covered by copyright and too abstract to be embraced by patent law. Thus, the quest for an adequate means of software protection continues.
This chapter examines the existing methods of software protection in India by considering:
- software protection methods;
- whether copyright extends adequate protection to software;
- the patentability of software; and
- the perfect solution.
Authored by Shrawan Chopra and Abhilasha Nautiyal.
This article was published in Managing the IP Lifecycle 2013.