How to determine whether software is patentable - Part 4

This is the fourth and final part in a series of podcasts on how to determine whether your software is patentable. If you are an inventor, an executive at a tech company, or a patent lawyer outside the U.S., this will help you to at least make a first pass determination of whether your software is worth considering for patent protection.  In each podcast in this series, we cover one criterion that you can use to evaluable whether your software is likely to be patentable.

During this episode, I will focus on whether your software controls something physical that is external to a computer. One reason that I waited until the final instalment in this series to cover this criterion is that I did not want to give the impression that your software needs to control something outside of the computer in order to be patentable. I find that many people falsely assume that external control is required for patentability, even though this is not true.

In this episode, you will learn:

• If you attempt to patent software that controls something physical outside a computer, you will nearly always avoid receiving an “abstract idea” rejection, which will make the task of obtaining the patent much easier.
• If you do happen to have software that controls something outside of the computer, then that weighs very strongly in your favor. It will make your life a lot easier in getting a patent granted on your software.
• Why it’s really important for you to work with a patent attorney who specializes in software patents

I hope you have enjoyed and benefited from this series of podcasts on how to determine whether your software is patentable.  Feel free to use this series of podcasts as a checklist when trying to determine whether to pursue patent protection for any new software.  And feel free to reach out to us at Blueshift IP: Software Patent Experts, for guidance and help in obtaining software patents in the U.S.