I have seen that Google has some patents on their Toolbar, and also has some copyrighted software. Which is a better option to protect an idea? Can I copyright my own Open Source project?
Personally, I am a student and want to protect my idea, which I am implementing at the moment. I don’t have much to pay, but I want to be able to talk about it to someone.
Copyright covers original expression. If you wrote your own original computer program, whether open source or not, it is a copyrighted work, similar to a painting, novel or music recording.
Copyright protects expression, not ideas. If an idea is patented, then all expressions of that idea, whether or original or not, infringe on that patent, unless they are expressions by the patent holder or a licensee.
If an algorithm is patented, then any unlicensed third-party implementation of that algorithm infringes on the patent, even though, paradoxically, the developer maintains the copyright.
An idea which is not patented can be borrowed by anyone and expressed in their own work.
If you think you have an idea which is patentable, it behooves you to keep it a secret. If, prior to obtaining a patent, you publish an idea so that it passes into use, you may lose eligibility to have it patented, at least in some countries. For instance, take a look at this sciencemag.com article entitled "Patent First, Publish Later: How Not to Ruin Your Chances of Winning a Patent" which claims that:
"According to U.S. law, a patent cannot be obtained if an invention was previously known or used by other people in the U.S., or was already patented or published anywhere in the world. Furthermore, publicly using or selling an invention more than 1 year prior to filing a patent application completely bars you from ever winning a patent on that invention."
Software or computer program can be protected by copyright law and patent law.
Under copyright law, software or the computer program is usually regarded as a "literary work". The unique characteristic of computer programs that differentiate them from other literary works is their dynamic essence, which usually includes algorithms or mathematical formulae's or logical condition etc, which manipulate symbols producing certain virtual or physical effects,etc. Copyright law provides protection to the software or the computer program´s expression and not the functional aspects of the software. Hence, computer programs differ from other copyright-able subject matter, in the sense that the text is not the most important aspect; rather the importance lies in the functions established by the program code.
Patent: Patent is becoming the method of protection for computer program's, software or E-commerce website. Patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which satisfies the patentability criteria. In order to meet patent-ability criteria, the invention must be novel or confers a new solution to a technical problem, and non- obvious to one of "ordinary skill" in the field of invention. The protection conferred by the patent is limited in time, generally 20 years since the filing of the patent application.
So one might say that a computer program or software protected under copyright law protects an original work in the tangible fixed form in which it has been set down, whereas a computer program or software protected under the patent law protects the creation of inventive concepts as well as their practice.
For further details please check the link below http://www.invntree.com/blogs/are-software-inventions-patentable-india
If you released your software to the Open Source Community, you did it under a license.
That license grants certain rights which would prevent you from patenting it now.
You should investigate what license you choose, for instance if you uploaded this project to http://www.github.com
