How Many Software Patents Are There?
If you’re wondering, “How many software patents are there?”, you’ve come to the right place. The patent office publishes issued software patents every year. However, many patents are published only after 32 months have passed since they were applied for. The number of software patents has grown considerably in recent years, with the top 15 assignees seeing a 23% increase in granted patents in 2020 and 2019 respectively.
Applications for software patents take an average of 32 months to be approved and published
The USPTO has long been known for its backlog of utility nonprovisional patent applications, so you should expect that it will take at least a year to file and be approved for publication. This delay is significant to the growth of your business, so you should factor that time into your plans. However, if you are a first-time applicant, you should still expect that the process will be long.
Many software developers were shocked to discover that thousands of software patents already existed. These patents covered conventional processes, such as user interface and machine instructions. Some of the software patents were already issued, and developers were concerned that they would face patent infringement claims for these processes. Unfortunately, there is no simple solution, however, as software patent applications take an average of 32 months to be approved and published.
The quality of software patents has also been a concern among proponents of the new regime. Applicants must prove that their process was patented before they can be sued for infringement. Furthermore, software patent applications can take an average of 20 months to be published, which is extremely long for software-focused companies. The long time needed for software patent applications, especially in light of the short cycle of product development, has a negative impact on valuation and market share.
Fortunately, the USPTO is now accepting applications for software patents. As of October 2017, it took an average of 32 months for applications to be approved and published. With this time frame in mind, it is worth investing in a patent attorney who is experienced in software technology. It may take more than 32 months to get your software protected, but it’s worth it. With the right legal help, you will soon find your business flourishing.
While it is true that many patents cover common functions, software patented in recent years has expanded into a media for human expression and the mediation of human experience. Hence, patenting software has become a major concern for the future of the software industry. As a result, many small companies will fold, reducing the number of software products available. Ultimately, the cost of software products will be pushed up as a result.
Issued software patents are published by the patent office
When you look at a software patent, you will likely see a bunch of claims that are a stretch of the imagination. Patent bureaucrats often have an excuse to dismiss them and talk them out of existence. When you talk something to death, you lose your bearings and your ability to justify the standard of obviousness. Instead of talking to something to death, you should listen to what the programmers have to say.
When you read a software patent, you might think you’re reading a computer magazine, but in reality, you’ll have to do a lot more than read a computer magazine to be eligible to receive an award. Software patents have to pass the same tests as hardware ones to get published by the patent office. For example, a patent for a computer game that enables multiple computers to play multiple games at once qualifies as a software patent.
Some programmers argue that software patents are unnecessary because many of our modern conveniences were invented before software was considered a patentable idea. Many of these ideas are similar to one another, and they didn’t require a patent to develop them. However, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has weighed in on the debate and ruled that software patents are a deadweight loss to the economy and threaten free speech.
Software patents are not intended to be granted to individual programs, but rather to specific ideas that have been developed over time. This makes software patents a significant barrier to innovation, as most software isn’t novel or non-obvious. The patent office publishes software patents, which contain detailed descriptions of the invention. While there are some exceptions, the vast majority of software patents are granted to software that has been used by the general public.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is the primary authority on software patents, and the USPTO has written Final Computer Related Examination Guidelines (FREE). Unlike the original laws, these guidelines are never final and change constantly due to Federal Court and Supreme Court cases. These guidelines give the patent office clear direction on what types of inventions qualify for patent protection. The Alice case, in particular, was the first to rule on the eligibility of software patents.
Public Key Encryption was patented in the US
A December 1997 paper by Merkle describes a public-key encryption system. It doesn’t claim to be a new idea, and Merkle didn’t attempt to patent his system. But it’s worth mentioning that Diffie and Hellman independently published their paper in December 1975, and they didn’t attempt to patent their permuted-circuit system. Nonetheless, they immediately sent preprints around.
While the invention was a breakthrough for the field of cryptography, it was still decades before the RSA algorithm was patented. The MIT and RSA public-key algorithm were published a year before the patent was granted. As such, most software developers considered it prior-art, and began developing cryptographic systems using the algorithm. However, the RSA scheme was patented in the US in 1983 and has since become the industry standard.
Number of software patents in the United States
Software patents are becoming more concentrated, with many large companies being granted them. In 2013, the number of software-related utility patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office grew by 23%. The data in this report is based on data from 2013 and was updated in 2016. The report is based on data from the PatSeer Global Patent Database. The report does not factor in software patents that were invalidated or withdrawn.
The problem with this decision is that it broadens software patents to cover a wide range of technologies. Similarly, the Alice decision only limits the use of software patents to a small subset of those technologies. Moreover, software patents do not cover the entire range of software-based innovations. As such, a developer of a smartphone application might not be able to improve the menu on the device because a competitor already owns a patent for the same feature. This will significantly limit the number of software-based innovations in the United States.
The USPTO issues patents in 23 different classes. For example, software related to image processing and cryptography is usually considered technical by the EPO. These types of software may be patent-eligible in the United States if the technical aspects of the invention are sufficiently described and go beyond the level of generality in the field. This article will be published in IAM magazine. So what are the key factors that contribute to the growth of software patents?
Alice and Bilski set precedent for software patents. While software remains patentable, the Alice case and Bilski v Kappos contributed to an ever-changing guidance on the patentability of software. This decision meant that many software patents were invalid because the USPTO did not research them thoroughly enough. Thus, it is difficult to predict how many software patents will be filed in the near future. It is vital to understand this case when looking to patent software.
Since the Supreme Court decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank, the USPTO has changed their approach. They no longer appealed the majority of decisions. Now, a few years after the case, the Patent Office changed its tune and has granted all kinds of software patents. As a result, articles began appearing that noted that software patents were routinely granted. After all, in 1988, the industry realized that the rules were changing.