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How to Protect the Software I Developed?
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I.The law is different《Copyright Law》and《Regulations on the Protection of Computer Software》provide protection over software copyrights. A software copyright comes automatically into existence upon completion of a software development. However, the developer may choose to register the software copyright. The purpose of the registration is to rely on some kind of notarization, which could be used to declare copyright ownership, thus to have a more powerful probative force for subsequent infringement proceedings.《Patent Law》provides protection over software patent. Software patents are protected passively, meaning the inventor must apply with the Patent Office to obtain protection if software patent is granted. Besides, the whole patent system is based on the principle of "open to public (in exchange) for protection". 1. 法律基础不同 软件的著作权保护依据《著作权法》和《计算机软件保护条例》。 软件著作权是在软件创作完成后自动产生的，也是自愿进行软件著作权登记（登记的目的是体现公证的效力，主要用于声明著作权权属，同时使后续维权时的证据力度更大。 软件专利保护依据《专利法》.软件专利采取被动保护，所以必须向专利局提出申请才能获得保护，且专利制度也是以“用公开换保护”为原则。
II. Success rateFor software copyright registration, as long as the form of the material submitted is in line with the requirements and does not violate the provisions of the Copyright Law, registration will be granted without going through a substantive review.However, the application for a software patent is relatively complex, as it must go through a substantive review, that is, to examine whether the application meets the requirements of the Patent Law, such as novelty, creativity, practicality etc. Generally speaking, the success rate for a software patent to be granted is comparatively low.2、成功率不同软件著作权实行的是登记制，一般不需要经过实质审查，只要形式审查时提交的材料符合要求，并且不违反《著作权法》的规定即可获权。而申请软件专利权保护相对来说要复杂很多，因为软件专利属于发明专利，必须经过实质审查，即审核该专利是否满足新颖性，创造性，实用性等诸多要求。一般软件型的专利在国内授权率很低.III. Term and renewal costsFor a software copyright, the IP right holders only have to pay the application fee, no annual fee needs to be paid to maintain it. According to the applicable law, the copyright protection period for an individual's work shall be the author's lifetime plus 50 years after his death, and the copyright protection period for work of legal person or other organization shall be 50 years. For a software patent, apart from the application fee, an annual fee shall be paid to maintain it. Failure to pay the annual fee before the respective deadline shall be considered as giving up the patent right. The protection period for a software patent shall be 20 years.3、保护期限和维护费用不同 软件著作权只需缴纳前期的申请费，但不用再缴任何年费。 根据法律规定，个人作品的著作权保护期为作者有生之年加死亡后50年；法人及其它组织的作品的著作权的保护期为50年。 软件专利除去前期申请费，后期每年都需要缴纳年费，过期不缴纳即视为放弃专利权。申请软件专利保护期限是20年。
IV. Pros & consSoftware copyright can be protected without being publicized, and can be granted very soon.Generally speaking, it takes 4 months to have a general registration being authorized，but it may take only one business day for an expedited application.However, a software patent must be open to the public before obtaining protection. The time for application to be granted is around 2 years, and generally speaking, an expedited application is not possible. The good point with a software patent is that it provides protection over the design concept and idea, so the protection is stronger in this respect. Meanwhile, the inventor can propose some idea which can’t be achieved currently. Once the patent was granted, the inventor can then obtain income by licensing it. Actually, many large companies commercialize their patent reserves in this way.4、优缺点不同 软件著作权可以不用公开就受到保护，并且时间相对较短，普通登记一般4个月左右授权，采用加急申请软件著作权最快能一个工作日授权。 软件专利必须以公开换保护，软件专利申请时间是1~2年，一般不能采取加急形式。软件专利保护的是设计构思和方案，所以保护的力度更强，并且专利还可以提出一些现在不能实现的专利，等到技术发展了能够实现该专利了，再以许可的方式去获得收益，很多大公司的专利储备就是按照这种方式来的。
V. The protection is differentTo apply for registration of a software copyright, the source code and user operating manual should be submitted. In another words, protection for software copyright focuses on the form of expression instead of the idea. It makes it possible for competitors to research the software and then change the programming language to achieve the same result. However, you can’t claim copyright infringement, because the code is different. While for a software patent application, it’s the design concept (including the content of the software flow chart) to be submitted, rather than the program language implementing the concept. Once the patent is granted, other people adopting the design idea or scheme of the software patent may constitute an infringement. Thus, a patent provides a more powerful protection.Our suggestion: if people want to obtain full protection of their software, it is highly recommended that both patent and copyright should be filed to reduce the risk of being infringed. It is also important to note that software applications for patents can only be applied for if the software amounts to an invention.5、保护的客体不同软件著作权申请提交的资料是源代码及用户操作手册，所以软件著作权保护的是表现形式，不保护思想。这样就有可能出现竞争对手将你的软件进行研究，然后改变编程语言，达到的结果是一样的，但由于代码不相同，所以不侵犯著作权。 软件专利则不同，在申请时描述的是软件的设计构思，包含了软件流程图的内容，而不是主要说明采用哪种程序语言实现。一旦获权后，他人只要采用了软件专利的设计构思或方案，就可能构成侵权。相对于著作权保护力度更大。 我们的建议是：如需将软件全面保护，建议专利和著作权都申请，这样可减少侵权风险。同时要注意，软件专利只能申请发明专利。
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