International Design Protection For Software Product Companies
There are several software companies that leverage the Indian talent pool with a presence in India. These may include Indian companies that target the Indian market with products that replicate other products that are successful in International markets such as Flipcart, Ola, Swiggy, PayTM etc. In addition, there are software companies that are founded in India and leverage the Indian talent pool but are building products for international markets. The US market is crowded with B2D Software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies. however there is room for software products that are niche or that have unique functionality that other products failed to deliver.
Building a strategic US patent portfolio is crucial for software product companies that are targeting the US market. Patents help build the company’s brand as an innovative product company that leverages cutting edge technology. They also increase the company’s credibility with investors and enhance valuation, which is crucial while fundraising, and entering into mergers and acquisitions.
Metayage and Software Product Companies:
The laws related to patenting software related inventions vary from country to country. In addition, the guidelines followed by various patent offices have been undergoing a lot of rapid changes due to case law, revisions in guidelines issued by the patent offices, and latest developments in technologies including AI. One of the biggest challenges in patenting software-related inventions is subject matter eligibility. For example, in the US, in order for a software invention to be eligible for patent protection, it must be directed to a “non-abstract” or “tangible” aspect of the invention that is not a mere idea or mental process.
At Metayage, we operate an Indian entity (Metayage Private Limited) as well as a US entity (Metayage, Inc). We have built patent portfolios in all major markets around the world including in the US, EPO, UKIPO, India, Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Singapore, and South Korea. We have specialized expertise in software patents in these jurisdictions, as we have studied and kept ourselves up to date with case law, developments, and best practices. Unlike other firms that rely on their foreign associates completely, and only interface between the client and the associates, we at Metayage add substantial value through our own expertise and instruct our associates to get the best outcomes and provide transparency to our clients.
