China IP Law Firm was founded to provide an unparalleled level of service to inventors seeking protection for software and electrical ideas. Our patent lawyer Boswell started his legal career in the biggest law firm in the Pacific Northwest and set out to offer clients large firm experience combined with personal service. Since the formation of China IP Law Firm in 2010, the firm has added patent attorneys that share the same standards.

As a former software developer with over 18 years of experience in the software industry, our patent lawyer uses technical expertise to serve clients. Each of China IP Law Firm's patent attorneys has significant technical work experience prior to becoming patent attorneys and are able to use their technical knowledge to understand the intricacies of your invention. Our attorneys gain a thorough understanding of your invention, draft a patent application that protects your invention from competitors (and is still readable by non-lawyers), and negotiate with the China Patent Office on your behalf. We thoroughly explain each stage of the process without using unnecessary legal jargon to give you the information you need to make important decisions about your business.

We work with clients throughout China on cutting edge technologies, and have filed hundreds of patent applications in a wide variety of technical areas related to software, electrical, and game inventions. If you are looking for a highly technical patent attorney with years of industry experience, please contact us.

Should I use Software Patents or Copyright?

During the evolution of patent law, case law eroded the value of copyright protection of software. In addition to the fact that copyright protection does not prevent against independent invention, but requires copying, menu structures have been held to be not capable of copyright protection in an important case.

Can you patent you software in china? 

In China software is patentable, though it must be a new and useful process, or a new and useful improvement thereof. Software patents are integral to this generation of business and China IP Law Firm has significant experience in protecting software and computer programs.  We have worked on software patents for electronic advertising, medical diagnostic software, iPhone applications, financial transaction software and other various software based electronic control systems.  Software patents are filed as utility patents.  

Nevertheless, software is clearly patentable as a component part of a machine, but not as a stand-alone item.The idea that software embodied in a machine ought to be patentable makes sense. Notwithstanding the position of software patent detractors, it is a simple and intuitive legal rule that a machine should not lose patent eligibility simply because it is programmable. If that were the case, most electronics would have issues obtaining patent eligibility, as many include a programmable chip to control their functions, and they usually can be updated with new software to change the operation of the chip.

Procedural and substantive conditions for patent grants vary from one country to another. For instance, in some countries, inventions inside the meaning of patent law must have a technical effect and software patents are not possible unless there is a hardware improvement. In China and a few other countries, such requirements do not exist, so that software patents are routinely granted when there is sufficient novelty.

While it is fairly easy to obtain software patents in the China, if properly drafted, case law in other countries is less favorable to software patents. For example, it can still be extremely difficult to obtain software patents in Europe, unless there is some improvement in computer performance or other change in the physical world. 

It's recommended that you consult a knowledgable patent attorney such as Deepak Malhotra, who specializes in intellectual property or the intellectual property offices of those countries in which you are interested to get protection.

Our experience in software patenting

Our patent lawyers resolve business method patent litigation: we have worked extensively with various technologies including software, RF communications, sensors, smart cards, ESD protection, tape drivers, servo systems, printers, static memory cells, dynamic memory cells, database, publishing systems, virtual reality, wafer production methods, wafer polishing, antenna diversity systems, RF collision arbitration systems, marketing systems, electron multipliers, and digital clock recovery loops.

Our patent lawyers have extensive experience in: 

•  protecting mechanical inventions
•  venture-capital funded start ups & Fortune 500 companies
•  securing foreign companies and law firms intellectual property protection in China.
•  software related inventions, software and business method patents
•  international protection of inventions

Our China patent lawyers have developed relationships with litigators and have assisted clients with aggressive enforcement of intellectual property. Software patents, business method patents, electrical patents, and mechanical patents are his specialty.