Copyright provides protection for a work of literature, science, or art that is the result of an individual’s intellectual creation which has a certain degree of originality and is expressed in a specific tangible form. Copyright protection is obtained automatically with the creation of the work and the disclosure thereof, without any need to undergo complex registration or grant procedures with an authority.
All forms of computer programs and software are protected by copyright as a special form of literature, for example as source code or machine-readable object code including associated preparatory material (such as flow diagrams).
However, copyright only protects computer programs in their respective specific forms of expression and not the technical functionality on which the computer program is based. In order to obtain legal protection for the technical teaching on which the computer program is based, it is necessary to file a patent application.
Our patent attorneys in the telecommunications and information technology departments will be happy to assist you with patent applications relating to software inventions and the field of information technology.
The author of a work is entitled to the right to exploit the work and may prohibit that work from being copied, distributed, exhibited, or communicated to the public within certain legal limits.
Dr. Christoph Hecht | Partner and Patent Attorney