Software: How are the application programs protected?

How are the application programs protected?

The protection of software can vary according to the kind of created programme. Usually the law on copyright protects the computer programmes and it is possible to get the copyright on them too. To this purpose, before putting it on the market, it is required to proceed with the deposit of the programme on CD ROM, on a floppy disk or by enclosing the complete details as inedited work at the SIAE. To do so it is necessary to fill in the proper forms available at the local branches of the SIAE, i.e. on the site www.siae.it, sending all the signed documentation, including the support, to Rome and paying the related fees.

Once on the market, the programme must be registered, also at the SIAE but in the software public Registry, and enclosing the programme on CD ROM together with all the documentation related to the company details trading it, jointly with the labels of the supports used and detailed description of the programme, more in depth than the previous one. Regarding the possibility of getting the patent for a software, even if it is not totally excluded, this can be evaluated only if the programme relates to a procedure for the functioning of some equipment, or nevertheless if it has a direct influence on the production sequences and can give shape to a working system rather than an application programme.

It deserves emphasizing that the subject is in continuous evolution and that in the United States patents have been granted to computer programmes that normally are not considered for it; therefore, before deciding the best solution, the matter needs to be analyzed in depth.