Software protect

What they protect is the name of the software or a symbol you use to advertise the software. Trademarking your software's brand name is a good way to keep others from marketing a product under a confusingly similar name. Copyright law defines copyright as : "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. Copyright Law. So the way you express an idea, like a work of fiction or software in code, falls under Copyright law.

A copyright grants you specific rights in terms of your software. When you hold the copyright to software code, you can:. An official copyright registration is easy to get and doesn't cost you much.

Copyrights last for the lifetime of the person who created the work, plus 70 years after that person's death. If you're copyrighting something you bought from a person you hired to create it, the copyright lasts for 95 years after you first publish that work, or years after the work is created, whichever comes first. Some programmers worry about sending the code to the U. Copyright Office. If it's at the Copyright Office, you might worry competitors can look it up and take copies. However, you only have to send the first 25 pages and the last 25 pages, to identify your software.

If you have trade secrets in the software, you can black those out. Stealing from the software is more complicated than just plagiarizing because the software is more than just code. Software is an invention or an idea. Copyright law only protects how that idea is written down. Because a software program does something specific, protecting against copying might not be enough.

Someone could use different code but still steal your invention. To protect a process, like the function of software, you need a patent. A patent will protect things like:. You can use two types of patents to protect software: utility and design.

Utility protects what the software does. Design protects any decorative part of your software. Unlike copyright law, patent law protects the invention itself. That way, someone can't create a software program with different code that does the exact same thing your software does.

But the patent doesn't protect your specific lines of code against plagiarism the way copyright does. Keep in mind: you register your copyright, so you aren't applying for anything. You do apply for a patent, which means you might not receive the patent. If you include information in your published patent application, that information is no longer a trade secret.

Getting a software patent has been the subject of lots of legislation, including Supreme Court cases. The precedence for software patents isn't always clear, making getting a software patent even more difficult.

A patent in the U. If you need a patent in other countries, you have to apply in each of those countries. Because patent law is different in every country, what gets you a software patent in the U. Software protection service such as copy protection encourages honesty among honest people and protects against strategic theft.

Dissuade theft by requiring a license key and activation for every computer installation. Fingerprinting technology detects unlawful copying and allows you to control the number of devices allowed per license. Increase revenue by converting illegal copies into trials and more. The license file stores the status of the license along with the authorized computer fingerprint. This file is encrypted to make it difficult for a user to modify.

Your application can use our SDK to read encrypted and digitally-signed license files using XML formatting for high flexibility and extensibility, across all supported platforms. We use industry-standard public-key cryptography and digital signatures. Employ either or both read-only and writable license files to balance security and flexibility for different licensing approaches. Moving from a perpetual, non-expiring model to a subscription model holds advantages for you and your software users.

Many large companies have already required existing customers to migrate from a perpetual license to a license by subscription. Subscriptions provide an opportunity to actually lower the user's entry-level price. More people can access your software via the lowered barrier to entry.

This popular model can increase your total revenue over time. Easily maintain subscriptions:. You can allow people to make impulse purchases and trials within a week or month from signing up for them. Two ways to control subscription software licenses.

We have seen tremendous growth in large companies offering subscription-based licenses. With classical PC software the most important goal is to prevent pirate copies and hence protect license revenues.

In industry, however, the main concern is to protect investment by preventing reverse engineering. Even before the Stuxnet worm incident, integrity protection in security-relevant industrial installations was a popular topic of discussion.

In the field of server and cloud software, authentication and data privacy issues are always high up on the agenda. CodeMeter technology from Wibu-Systems is unique worldwide and offers standard yet flexible solutions to all the application scenarios described above.

Although tracking cookies are not directly harmful, they do raise privacy concerns which we can help to overcome. Advanced protection against malicious websites and block attempts to steal your personal information. We're so confident that you won't want to leave PC Protect, we'll give you your money back if you do. No questions asked. During the first 30 days, if you decide PC Protect isn't for you, we'll refund your subscription fees in full. For full information on our Refund and Cancellation Policy including how to cancel please click here.

Request a link to reset your password. We have sent you a link to reset your password. Please check your email. If nothing is received in your inbox, please remember to check your SPAM folder.