spect of software and its uses.7. Maintain a library of software licenses and provide users with copies ofthe agreement.8. Having done the above seven points, the company can benefit by havingobtained software legally, receive full documentation, technical support whenneeded and also upgrade notices.Patents do not cover specific systems, instead they cover particular techniquesthat can be used to build systems or particular features that systems canoffer. Patent grants the inventor a 17 year monopoly on its use. Once atechnique or feature is patented, it may not be used in a system without thepermission of the patent-holder even if it is implemented in a different way.Since a computer program usually uses several techniques and provides manyfeatures, it can infringe many patents at once. A computer program is builtout of ideal mathematical objects whose behavior is defined, not modeledapproximately, by abstract rules. An example of this is when BorlandInternational, Inc. complained that a federal court decision gave LotusDevelopment Corp. the benefit of patent protection to Lotus 1-2-3 menu commandsand their order, but failed to require Lotus to meet the requirements of patentlaw, including novelty, examination and contribution to the prior art. TheSupreme Court sided with the decision that one entity cannot own the userinterface to programs. This would include such components as file formats,menu structures and programming languages.Software license agreements emerged as the most popular means of protection ofproprietary rights in computer software. They coexist with other forms ofintellectual property rights as patent and copyright. Software licenseagreements serve several functions in transactions involving the transfer ofcomputer technology. One of the most important legal functions is theprotection of the proprietary rights of the licenser in the transferredsoftware. Other functions include controlling the reve...
