Q: Patents with Open source Software or Software tools, programs owned by other companies.
Today when we work with so much of software and software programs and software tools which have been developed by different companies or communities, where is the scope to innovate and patent? In other words, if my day to day job involves using these software tools or programs, what could be a patentable idea, or how should a patentable idea look?
A: The concept and scope of software patents is very ambiguous, frequently changing and very much under assault. Note that "ideas" cannot be patented or copyrighted, although you can copyright software code as a creative expression. Look at some articles on software patents reviewing the Supreme Court's decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank <https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/06/bad-day-bad-patents-supreme-court-unanimously-strikes-down-abstract-software> and the more recent federal court of appeals decision in Enfish LLC v. Microsoft <http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2016/05/13/federal-circuit-says-software-patent-claims-not-abstract-are-patent-eligible/id=69147/>. And if you are innovating on top of an open source platform, the open source license itself may also require you to give back all improvements to the community under a GPL or other mandatory license.
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