Please help me in filing a software patent

M

mayanksahni

Level D
I would like to file a software patent. I googled a lot but didn't got the exact information I'm looking for. So please help me and explain me step by step procedure for filing a patent and cost involved in it. Also I heard somewhere that in case of software I have to file patent from outside India. Please provide me all possible details which can help me. Any sort of help will be highly appreciated.
 
agantuk said:
Where exactly are you trying to file a patent? The norm is to file it in the US since that is almost a 'standard'. Filing costs are pretty high. Their patent site is United States Patent and Trademark Office
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I would like to file a patent in such a way that it cannot be copied all over the world. How much would be the fees around? And what is the procedure to file from above link? Do I need to visit US for the same?

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Exactly I want to file a patent is for an andriod app which me along with 2 of my friends developed.
 
^ Again, due to reasons of cost as well as practicality, I have mostly seen patents being filed for scope within US only. International patents cost more, but more importantly, I think the ROI is not worth it due to which not a lot of software patents are with that scope.

You will need an attorney to put your claim into a legal document (read, translating human readable format to cryptic legal jargon) and submit it. I am not aware of the costs of an attorney as I have seen this being done only from within a company. Filing costs are on the USPTO site itself and from what I remember the last time I checked, it goes upto $600 for a domestic patent for 7 years or something like that. There are durations for which you can request to be granted the patent, following which you can opt for a renewal of the TM.
 
mayanksahni said:
Can you please guide me in that? I am completely unaware of legal matters. Whom should I approach?
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I had a mail from one Patent Lawyer firm in Mumbai (may be 1/1.5 yrs back), I do search before posting here but fail to find out. Will try again & if find will post or PM you. :)
 
whatsinaname said:
You do realise that Software Patents are invalid in India (and quite a few other countries)?
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I don't think so. I have seen that while filing patents, a document stating that the claim, though originated in India, is being filed in the US, is signed and sent to the Indian Intellectual Property office.
 
whatsinaname said:
You do realise that Software Patents are invalid in India (and quite a few other countries)?
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Yup, that's why I want to file from other countries like UK, US, Honk Kong.

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agantuk said:
^ Again, due to reasons of cost as well as practicality, I have mostly seen patents being filed for scope within US only. International patents cost more, but more importantly, I think the ROI is not worth it due to which not a lot of software patents are with that scope.

You will need an attorney to put your claim into a legal document (read, translating human readable format to cryptic legal jargon) and submit it. I am not aware of the costs of an attorney as I have seen this being done only from within a company. Filing costs are on the USPTO site itself and from what I remember the last time I checked, it goes upto $600 for a domestic patent for 7 years or something like that. There are durations for which you can request to be granted the patent, following which you can opt for a renewal of the TM.
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How should I contact attorney? Exactly what should I do to get my app patented? Since we are 3 friends who made this, so can all 3 of us hold the patent?

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Emperor said:
I had a mail from one Patent Lawyer firm in Mumbai (may be 1/1.5 yrs back), I do search before posting here but fail to find out. Will try again & if find will post or PM you. :)
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Sure, any sort of help will be highly appreciable. :)
 
mayanksahni said:
Nopes, we don't have any firm or so. :(
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Then make one, dude. AFAIK, I dont know about the exact procedure, but my friend has one, all he did is make a bank a/c showing the address of the firm as his home. Its called ** Enterprises. However, some more legal matters will obviously have to be done for the partnership.

Eventually, you do realize that you will need some sort of name, so IMO get it done. Consult some laywers (Do we have any of them here at TE?), get it done.
 
I wouldn't quite agree with the firm approach as things might change over the years. What would remain constant is a person's name. So you can get it in your names. However, there is a concept of a lead inventor, and co-inventors, so the patent would be granted as something like godzilla et al, with godzilla being the lead inventor even if you can have uncle scrooge as the co-inventor
 
agantuk said:
I wouldn't quite agree with the firm approach as things might change over the years. What would remain constant is a person's name. So you can get it in your names. However, there is a concept of a lead inventor, and co-inventors, so the patent would be granted as something like godzilla et al, with godzilla being the lead inventor even if you can have uncle scrooge as the co-inventor
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But in our case 2 persons are lead inventors while other one is co-inventor, so is that possible to specify 2 names in lead inventors list?

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mehrotra.akash said:
OP said he wants to patent an Andriod App

Wouldnt a copyright be a better choice?

patents are for specific processes and ideas IIRC
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Copyright with protect the source code only, not the idea. We want to protect both idea and source code, so patent is the best bet.
 
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