IP usually comes from creativity and could be a manuscript, a formula, a song, or software. Under the law, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets , and patents protect IP.
Both businesses and people have problems protecting their IP. Businesses with valuable IP like software have to watch out for theft from employees. Theft that happens from outside the business occurs, too, but not as often.
Having employees sign Non-disclosure Agreements is one way to protect company IP. Restricting employee access to IP like the software in development is another way.
It covers these crimes and how to protect against them. Another way to protect IP is to use the law to protect it. That means getting a patent , copyright, or a trademark. Then if someone does steal your property, you have legal grounds to prosecute. When you want to protect software IP, both a copyright and a patent offer legal protection. Each option covers different parts of IP protection. Some people prefer one or the other, while others go for both. Alternatively, you can choose to treat your software as a trade secret.
Deciding what to do is an important step in protecting your software. Trademarks are another option, but they don't protect your IP software code.
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. Subway Surfers. TubeMate 3. Google Play. Biden to send military medical teams to help hospitals. N95, KN95, KF94 masks. GameStop PS5 in-store restock. Baby Shark reaches 10 billion YouTube views. Microsoft is done with Xbox One. Windows Windows. Most Popular. New Releases.
Desktop Enhancements. Networking Software. Trending from CNET. Download Now. Developer's Description By Chota Byte. GetMyIP is a small utility application intended for home internet users who need to know their public IP address. This application periodically contacts the www. This opens the command prompt. For those who've never seen a Windows command prompt before: This is the part where you will either be immediately terrified something is about to get broken, or you will suddenly feel like you're about to do something extremely cool.
Do not panic; neither of those things is going to happen. The magic black box has that effect on everyone their first time. Some text will zoom by. Then close your command prompt. You're done. From here, tap on the network you're currently connected to.
Tap the gear-shaped icon to the right of the network. Your IP address will be displayed here, but go to the bottom of the screen and -- after making sure you've got your Wi-Fi password handy -- tap Forget it's the trash icon in the bottom-right corner. Your phone will forget the Wi-Fi network and be disconnected.
Just reconnect to your network, and you should be issued a new IP address. Select Manually and type in whatever IP you've chosen. Manually type in whatever IP address you're trying to use. Windows : Make sure you're working from your Administrator account and click Start , then go to Control Panel. From here, click Network Connection , and then click on your local area connection.
From here, you can type your new IP address in manually. Select Static. The next screen will let you manually type in whatever IP address you've chosen. For more, check out everything to know about the Tor browser , three browser-based VPNs to try , and the browser privacy settings you should change right away. Learn smart gadget and internet tips and tricks with our entertaining and ingenious how-tos.
How to change your IP address: 4 easy ways Changing your IP address is not only totally legal, it's super easy, too. Rae Hodge. July 18, a. Changing your IP address is easy, safe and legal.
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