Software inventions are commonplace, but confusion still surrounds the question of whether they can be patented. This is a complex area of intellectual property law. In many instances, the legal complexity can deter companies from even attempting to build a patent portfolio.

Our attorneys are expert at demystifying the law in this area. We have considerable experience of explaining to engineers the difference between patentable and non-patentable software developments. This gives our clients’ engineers greater confidence to flag up potentially patentable ideas in future – and that helps our clients capture the value in their development programs.

We work with companies on a huge range of specialist IT technologies, giving them clear, practical advice. Our latest work in this area has spanned the provision of IP support to a project developing billing software and advising a business on migrating from an open source to a proprietary licensing model.