Skip to main content

Software is too functional to be covered by copyright and too abstract to be embraced by patent law. So how can it be protected?

Has the perfect method of protecting software in India been found? The answer is no, due to the nature of software. Software is considered to be too functional to be covered by copyright and too abstract to be embraced by patent law. Thus, the quest for an adequate means of software protection continues.

This chapter examines the existing methods of software protection in India by considering:

  • software protection methods;
  • whether copyright extends adequate protection to software;
  • the patentability of software; and
  • the perfect solution.

Authored by Shrawan Chopra and Abhilasha Nautiyal.

This article was published in Managing the IP Lifecycle 2013.

Read more

Most Recent

News & Insights

VIEW ALL
Thought Leadership
May 29, 2025

‘First published on Lexology’ By: Sandhya Singh, Sampada Kapoor and Kritika Gandhi Trademarks play a pivotal role in distinguishing the goods or services

Heir of the Family Trademarks
Thought Leadership
May 15, 2025

‘First published on India Business Law Journal’ By: Pravin Anand, Dr. Ajai Garg and Alvin Antony The ascendancy of large language models (LLMs) has

Navigating the AI frontier: India’s sovereign LLM quest
Thought Leadership
Apr 30, 2025

‘First published on Asia IP’ By: Prachi Agarwal and Manan Mondal In a significant ruling, the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court in Wipro Enterprises

Senior user versus junior user: Delhi High Court confirms passing off in a trademark dispute
Thought Leadership
Apr 29, 2025

‘First published on IP Stars’ By: Safir Anand, Omesh Puri and Abhishek Paliwal As the world changes and technology grows fast, the way we think about

The future of trademarks: shaping tomorrow’s brand identity