Finding a Balance: Computer Software, Intellectual Property and the Challenge ofTechnological Change

摘要

The report examines the rapid and complex technological changes and trends incomputer software technologies and their possible effects on the Nation's intellectual property system. The report identifies three policy issues: (1) the appropriate scope of copyright protection for computer software; (2) patent protection for software-related inventions and algorithms, and how the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will handle these types of applications; and (3) complications facing libraries and commercial and private producers and users of digital information, including computer-based mixed media products.