How the Law Protects Software: Copyright Patents Trade Secrets and Contract Rights

44 questions on how the law protects software, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Can a license contractually prohibit reverse engineering that fair use would allow?
• Can the DMCA apply where there is no copyright infringement?
• Can you show how each protection catches a different kind of copying?
• Do all circuits use the same test for software copyright?
• Does federal copyright law preempt software contract claims?
• Does patenting software require publishing the source code?
• Do you own code written by a contractor you paid?
• How can you register a copyright in software without disclosing your secrets?
• How do copyright, patent, trade secret, and contract compare?
• How does the abstraction-filtration-comparison test work in a real dispute?
• How does the analysis change for a video game rather than enterprise software?
• How does the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act help protect software?
• How does the USPTO apply the Alice framework?
• How does timely copyright registration change the economics of enforcement?
• How do you secure clean ownership of software IP?
• How long can a patent application stay confidential?
• How long does trade secret protection last?
• Is reverse engineering software ever fair use?
• Should you patent an algorithm or keep it a trade secret?
• What are reasonable measures to protect software trade secrets?
• What are the essential first steps to protect software?
• What are the four legal regimes that protect software?
• What can trade secret law protect that copyright cannot?
• What developments are reshaping software protection law?
• What did Google v. Oracle decide about API copyright?
• What does a fully layered software protection strategy look like?
• What does the DMCA's anti-circumvention rule protect?
• What is copyright's biggest blind spot for software?
• What is the abstraction-filtration-comparison test?
• What is the Alice test for software patent eligibility?
• What is the decision framework for choosing software protections?
• What is the difference between a covenant, a condition, and a scope limitation in a software license?
• What is the idea/expression distinction in software copyright?
• What kinds of software claims survive Alice?
• What makes a patent uniquely powerful for software?
• What remedies are available for trade secret misappropriation?
• What statutes protect trade secrets in software?
• When does copyright protection attach to software?
• Who owns code written by an employee?
• Why does software protection begin with decomposing the software?
• Why do software companies license rather than sell?
• Why is delivering software as a service a protection strategy?
• Why is source code automatically a trade secret?
• Why should a software company register its copyright if protection is automatic?