By Arko Chandra Published on : Nov 10, 2022
You have come up with a brilliant feature for your SaaS software that’s nowhere to be found in any other software in the market. Now that definitely will give you a competitive edge, but the question is for how long? How do you keep your rivals from copying your features into their software?
This is where the concept of intellectual property (IP) protection comes to your cause. As a SaaS company, you need to devise a foolproof IP strategy to safeguard your brand and products/services. Scroll down till the last line to understand how IP protection works in the SaaS space.
Sketching out an IP strategy for your SaaS business need not follow any fixed formula; instead, it should be based on various factors like the technology and industry your company deals in, market goals, competition, etc. Failing to design an apt IP strategy can affect your business to the point where you lose to your competitors and are forced to bring down the shutter on your company.
SaaS SMBs often avoid consulting with IP experts during the initial stages of their business to cut down costs and utilize them in product development. However, appropriate counsel can help companies identify opportunities for internal IP development and prepare them for taxes, venture capital hikes, equity compensation, and business growth. IP advisors can even assist employees with trade secrets and privacy policies and ensure the confidentiality of company information is intact.
Business methods and software features are eligible for patent provided the key features are correctly identified and mentioned in the specification and claims. In order to spot these features, you need to have in-depth knowledge about the relevant published applications, patents, and non-patent literature (NPL) across the world. You should also ensure that your application draft clearly focuses on the technical process and novel features of your software. The more detailed and robust you draft your specifications, the more it’ll be good for the prosecution.
Finally, you must abide by the 35 U.S.C. 102(b) statutory bar conditions and steer clear of disclosing your invention in the public domain more than 1 year prior to filing your patent application.
The graphical UI or GUI makes for a critical component of your SaaS business as it’s one of the major touchpoints and helps elevate brand awareness and popularity. The better, cleaner, and more interactive your UI is, the more website traffic you can expect. So, you can get a design patent for your GUI to protect the decorative, non-functional elements for a 15-year period from the date of issue. Also, as design elements require comparatively less legal expertise and interpretation, a design patent is much more easily enforced and is even among the most cost-effective ways to secure these software elements.
Utility patents and design patents are available for SaaS companies to safeguard software. You can attain utility patents for a new process, machine, composition of matter, article of manufacture, or a new improvement. Usually, the code is not included in the patent application. Design patents, on the other hand, as discussed above, are sought by SaaS companies to secure their GUI elements.
Though not unique to SaaS companies, trademarks are a significant IP tool ensuring brand protection. A trademark is any word, symbol, phrase, mark, or the like that differentiates one brand from the other. As SaaS brands engage with cloud platforms, trademarks can help maintain a consistent brand image across different entities in the cloud space.
SaaS companies can set up alerts or use trademark watch services to monitor the use of their products or trademarks by competitor brands. That way, they will be able to mitigate the consequences of trademark dilution.
Copyrights protect original works of authorship, including the written code in software and SaaS, excluding the ideas the written code stands for. However, if any other company rewrites or makes changes within the original code, it no longer stands protected under the copyright. Still, it’s recommended that SaaS companies should consider copyright protection as part of a complete IP protection strategy, especially when their code is available on multiple cloud environments.
Although federal and state laws have some protection provisions for trade secrets, the best strategy is to have a well-documented non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for your SaaS business. An NDA helps protect confidential information empowering you to sue anyone who misappropriates the same.
Trade secrets are of value to SaaS companies primarily due to three reasons. To start, as employees in the software space often switch companies, it poses high risks of confidential information leakage; trade secrets are helpful here. Secondly, trade secrets are able to extend the scope of patents covering business plans, customer lists, and other info of the like. Lastly, trade secrets are not time-bound and can potentially be in place indefinitely as opposed to utility patents which have a life span of up to 20 years from the date of filing.
Having an IP advisor will not only help you build the IP strategy for your brand but also keep you from unknowingly infringing the rights of other companies. You might think of saving valuable bucks by not consulting with an IP expert, but it may backfire in the long run.
You have come up with a brilliant feature for your SaaS software that’s nowhere to be found in any other software in the market. Now that definitely will give you a competitive edge, but the question is for how long? How do you keep your rivals from copying your features into their software?
This is where the concept of intellectual property (IP) protection comes to your cause. As a SaaS company, you need to devise a foolproof IP strategy to safeguard your brand and products/services. Scroll down till the last line to understand how IP protection works in the SaaS space.
Sketching out an IP strategy for your SaaS business need not follow any fixed formula; instead, it should be based on various factors like the technology and industry your company deals in, market goals, competition, etc. Failing to design an apt IP strategy can affect your business to the point where you lose to your competitors and are forced to bring down the shutter on your company.
SaaS SMBs often avoid consulting with IP experts during the initial stages of their business to cut down costs and utilize them in product development. However, appropriate counsel can help companies identify opportunities for internal IP development and prepare them for taxes, venture capital hikes, equity compensation, and business growth. IP advisors can even assist employees with trade secrets and privacy policies and ensure the confidentiality of company information is intact.
Business methods and software features are eligible for patent provided the key features are correctly identified and mentioned in the specification and claims. In order to spot these features, you need to have in-depth knowledge about the relevant published applications, patents, and non-patent literature (NPL) across the world. You should also ensure that your application draft clearly focuses on the technical process and novel features of your software. The more detailed and robust you draft your specifications, the more it’ll be good for the prosecution.
Finally, you must abide by the 35 U.S.C. 102(b) statutory bar conditions and steer clear of disclosing your invention in the public domain more than 1 year prior to filing your patent application.
The graphical UI or GUI makes for a critical component of your SaaS business as it’s one of the major touchpoints and helps elevate brand awareness and popularity. The better, cleaner, and more interactive your UI is, the more website traffic you can expect. So, you can get a design patent for your GUI to protect the decorative, non-functional elements for a 15-year period from the date of issue. Also, as design elements require comparatively less legal expertise and interpretation, a design patent is much more easily enforced and is even among the most cost-effective ways to secure these software elements.
Utility patents and design patents are available for SaaS companies to safeguard software. You can attain utility patents for a new process, machine, composition of matter, article of manufacture, or a new improvement. Usually, the code is not included in the patent application. Design patents, on the other hand, as discussed above, are sought by SaaS companies to secure their GUI elements.
Though not unique to SaaS companies, trademarks are a significant IP tool ensuring brand protection. A trademark is any word, symbol, phrase, mark, or the like that differentiates one brand from the other. As SaaS brands engage with cloud platforms, trademarks can help maintain a consistent brand image across different entities in the cloud space.
SaaS companies can set up alerts or use trademark watch services to monitor the use of their products or trademarks by competitor brands. That way, they will be able to mitigate the consequences of trademark dilution.
Copyrights protect original works of authorship, including the written code in software and SaaS, excluding the ideas the written code stands for. However, if any other company rewrites or makes changes within the original code, it no longer stands protected under the copyright. Still, it’s recommended that SaaS companies should consider copyright protection as part of a complete IP protection strategy, especially when their code is available on multiple cloud environments.
Although federal and state laws have some protection provisions for trade secrets, the best strategy is to have a well-documented non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for your SaaS business. An NDA helps protect confidential information empowering you to sue anyone who misappropriates the same.
Trade secrets are of value to SaaS companies primarily due to three reasons. To start, as employees in the software space often switch companies, it poses high risks of confidential information leakage; trade secrets are helpful here. Secondly, trade secrets are able to extend the scope of patents covering business plans, customer lists, and other info of the like. Lastly, trade secrets are not time-bound and can potentially be in place indefinitely as opposed to utility patents which have a life span of up to 20 years from the date of filing.
Having an IP advisor will not only help you build the IP strategy for your brand but also keep you from unknowingly infringing the rights of other companies. You might think of saving valuable bucks by not consulting with an IP expert, but it may backfire in the long run.
