U.S. Software Patent

Software patent does not really have a clear definition but it is normally seen as any obvious program on computers realized by means of computer programs. There has been an active debate on the argument on which extent should patent software and computer applied discoveries be a matter of public policy?(Nichols Kenneth 1998).Due to differences in the treatment of patent rights in different states in the U.S, the government created a Federal Patent to hear patent cases.

However, pending patent cases in the court have raised questions on the view of the U.S about software patent and the requirements to obtain them. Several instructions are given before obtaining a software patent and the first one is to verify if the software is patentable. Verification software ensures that the machine is able to change an article from its current state to a different state and meets the U.S. patent laws. After verifying the software, the next step is to self-patent the software. Although patent experts are provided by the state patent office, it is easy to self-patent the software for yourself. This is also an effective way to cut costs as the patent officers are normally paid. It is easy to self -patent your software by referring to books on "Self-patent" which provide easy and simple procedures (Fred and David 2008).

The third instruction is the writing of a provisional patent application, a provisional patent application is the best as it comes with a reasonable fee and less review requirements. After writing the provisional application, the next step is to file for your entity depending on your business. If it's a big business file for large entity and if it's a small business file for small entity. Fees charged for business depends on the size of their entities. The final thing is to submit the application and recommended fee to the patent officer and pay the relevant fees charged. However despite these instructions the number of issued patents has risen significantly since 2008 and this has raised questions about the fee charges and the standard of patentability. Alan (2004) did a research which showed that although the Patent Trademark Office rejects millions of applicants from all over the country most of them end up winning in court.

In conclusion, the U.S. should adopt strong policies to protect its patent software and give a high priority to this issue in terms of quality and standard. It is also high time a proper study was conducted to determine the number of patent applications and rejected applications over the past years till present.