Both patents and copyright registrations are available for computer software in the United States. Although patents usually provide stronger rights, they are much more costly and protracted than copyrights. Patent law requires full disclosure of the best mode of carrying out the invention as it was contemplated by the inventor. In contrast, copyright registrations are available for software where the owner prefers aspects of the software to remain secret.
Copyright protection in the United States extends to all copyrightable expression embodied in a tangible form in the computer program, but is not generally available for ideas, program logic, algorithms, systems, methods, concepts or layouts. Copyrights provide exclusive rights to publish, reproduce, distribute, sell, license, make derivative works, perform, or otherwise exploit the copyrighted work. Unlike patents, they only provide protection from copying, not independent creation.
