Snapchat was created as a social networking app that promotes user privacy through self-deleting photos and videos. The founders patented several app technologies and features to bolster automation, user privacy, personalization, and account security. It is one of the best software patents examples in the field.
For instance, they have patents for an IP-based intrusion detection technique and machine-powered content curation (the technology behind the app’s “Live Stories” feature).
Snapchat founders continuously improved the software and worked on more patents, such as augmented reality and emotion recognition, which brands could leverage to enhance customer service and user experience. They monetized the platform by selling ads while offering companies a way to promote their products to millennials.
The app is today a multibillion-dollar enterprise.
(Source: The Patent Professor)
The Software Patent Market Overview
In 2020, 63.2% of issued U.S utility patents were “software-related.” It was a slight increase from 2019. Tech patents are on the rise as innovation takes center stage for societal progress and development.
More than a quarter of a million patent applications published worldwide in 2019 were in the field of computer technology. The interest in patenting software comes from the competitive advantage that it will provide.
Computer technology was the most frequently featured technology in published patent applications worldwide, with 284,146 published applications. It was followed by electrical machinery (210,429), measurement (182,612), digital communication (155,011), and medical technology (154,706).
The Significance of Software Patents in today’s World
Today, innovation is critical for any company’s progress. Patents allow inventors to protect the rights of their inventions. However, there’s more to patents than just safeguarding innovation.
Software patents provide much greater protection to software developers than copyright law. The benefits of obtaining patent protection can be extraordinary, as shown by Stac Electronics' $120 million patent infringement award against Microsoft relating to data compression or Apple's $1 billion verdict against Samsung.
Here are a couple of reasons to get software patents -
- Intangible Value Addition
50 years ago, a company’s value was solely in the tangible assets that it had. Today, most of the company’s value comes from intangible assets like goodwill and patents. In the software industry, innovation can be easily imitated. Therefore, it is crucial to patent the invention to protect the company’s value. For a software product engineering company and ecommerce companies, patents are the most important transferable assets that they hold.
- Competitive Advantage
Patents are not simply trophies for a company. They provide a competitive advantage to the innovator. Patents can be used to stop competitors from getting too close to the product. Patents can also be licensed to generate added revenue. Powerful patent portfolios help their owners stay out of lawsuits because competitors are scared of retaliatory patent infringement lawsuits.
- Security Against Investment
For startups and enterprises, a good patent portfolio is a security against their investment. Patents not only offer investors a degree of exclusivity in competitive markets but also provide them with an asset that can regularly be monetized if the company fails. Startups, therefore, often focus on acquiring patents for their innovation. It ensures the stakeholders and investors that their investment will be returned - one way or the other.
Conclusion
Software piracy and conceptual copying is a major challenge in the software industry. Therefore, choosing the right types of software patents help the company in creating a competitive advantage and securing the rights to their innovation. A trusted software engineering partner that offers IP-led software product engineering services can assist enterprises and startups with securing their unique ideas through engineering solutions and helping them claim IP ownership.
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