Software Engineering Stack Exchange
Software Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [software-patent]

17 questions
48
votes
6 answers

Can an algorithm be patented?

So can an algorithm be patented? I saw this statement which made me think: Everybody would abstain from patenting the improvements of contour dot algorithm for at least several years, say up till 2021. So that the developers of the Outliner…
Shawn Mclean
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41
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7 answers

I want to publish an android app, but I'm afraid of software patents

I wrote an application that helps you to save energy. Actually it is very simple. I check the current location of the phone and I make some changes to the configuration like "sound off, dark display, wifi off...", depending on the location of the…
Lama
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39
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16 answers

Do you keep your ideas secret? and why?

I believe any programmer has several ideas that she/he considers as innovative or at least valuable. It may be an idea of a new product which will make this world better or a new development approach, etc. But a great idea must be implemented and…
Arseni Mourzenko
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27
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5 answers

Can someone else patent my open-sourced algorithm?

I've written a recursive search algorithm to find the boundaries of a voxel data structure in order to render it more efficiently. I've looked around, and either it's such a simple and obvious technique that nobody's bothered to patent it, or it's…
Hunter Beast
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17
votes
11 answers

Should I patent my software?

I go to a university where students are allowed to make their semester schedule based on the information about the subjects they are going to take, that is, the hours that the courses are available, the professors, and the remaining room for other…
rfrm
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15
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1 answer

Apache License and patents

I am trying to understand how Apache License affects patents. In regards to the Apache website http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 section 3, am I right to say for the first part that it is saying the licensee is allowed to do pretty much…
Johnathan Au
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12
votes
10 answers

Giving employer power of attorney to obtain your inventions

Is it normal/just for a software company to ask for power of attorney to ensure they obtain patents on anything you invent while you are employed as a programmer? Update: In my case, I went back the the employer. They told me they have no interest…
StevenH
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9
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6 answers

algorithm from scientific paper

In my application I want to use a mixture of several algorithms described in some recently published scientific papers. But I have some legal questions. Q1 If an algorithm was published in a scientific paper, and the authors were affiliated with…
bor
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6
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2 answers

Licensing issue for RSA and Rijndael algorithms

I'm using .Net to build a commercial application, i.e. a secure chat application. This application is using RSA and Rijndael algorithms. Do we need licenses for using RSA and Rijndael algorithms for commercial product?
user774411
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5
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4 answers

Can I use aac in an commercial app for free?

I was wondering if I can use the aac codec in my commercial app for free (through lgpl ffmpeg). It says on the wiki: No licenses or payments are required to be able to stream or distribute content in AAC format.[36] This reason alone makes AAC a…
Jason123
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4
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1 answer

is it allowed to create a app with overscroll feature?

As Apple won lawsuits against Motorola and Samsung with the so called overscroll patent, I am asking myself what the legal consequences of releasing an application with such a feature are? I think if one releases the app in IOS it would be okay, but…
user61664
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3
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3 answers

What level of threat does selling an app on an app store present to a non-US company?

Can anyone point me to an article or an informed discussion about US software patents affecting a non-US company who is selling their products on an American app store/marketplace? My company has several products on both Apple's App Store and…
gregopet
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2
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2 answers

Is there a way to publish software architectural design for open use and prevent patenting?

I'm not sure I have the correct verbage in my question, so let me explain: What I mean by "software architectural design": I have (what I believe) is a unique and useful design concept for an architecture that involves multiple clients, shared…
MechEthan
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1
vote
1 answer

how to patent software

I am interested in patenting a piece of software that I have created with a group of people. I live in europe. I have no idea how to go about it, but I have multiple users tell me that I should have it patented for safety. So I was wondering where…
James Gret
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3 answers

Are Datasets Patentable

I'm working on a project that uses a dataset produced from software informally licensed as "non-commercial use only". I'm developing an application that uses that dataset as an input to another algorithm. Our own software has a permissive free…
Rich
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