I am fortunate to have been involved in the evolution of many founding software principles still heavily used to this day. As the creator and systems architect of several acquired SaaS platforms I have sat in more than one meeting discussing patenting my creations with executive management that saw nothing but fiat raining from the sky should such a patent be acquired for said software. Very early in my career I learned to avoid the software patent discussions as they did nothing but consume my time for something I recognized as frivolous in protecting.
As a generalist however with vast applied experience in electrical, mechanical, and technological hardware and software I do see value in patents which protect non software solutions, a physical tangible thing that accomplishes an objective in a unique derived way. With that stated, if one has a physical device which can be patented and therefore "protected" (to some degree) then patenting the physical thing as "unique" ensures one some legal protections as a timeline to execution, business evolution, and potential revenue. With this "unique physical device" patented it is of course controlled and managed by custom software. Protection by proxy for the custom software although not legally enforceable but since the device is "unique" this software has no other purpose. Modular design however through the entire hardware and software process ensures reusability at every turn; work smarter, not harder.
A lifetime of scars and lessons from these words so I hope this can help at least one person even if it's only a glancing blow answer to the OP question. My 2¢ from personal experiences which likely greatly differ from others so YMWV. Stay Healthy!
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TLDR; patent hardware, not software.
I am fortunate to have been involved in the evolution of many founding software principles still heavily used to this day. As the creator and systems architect of several acquired SaaS platforms I have sat in more than one meeting discussing patenting my creations with executive management that saw nothing but fiat raining from the sky should such a patent be acquired for said software. Very early in my career I learned to avoid the software patent discussions as they did nothing but consume my time for something I recognized as frivolous in protecting.
As a generalist however with vast applied experience in electrical, mechanical, and technological hardware and software I do see value in patents which protect non software solutions, a physical tangible thing that accomplishes an objective in a unique derived way. With that stated, if one has a physical device which can be patented and therefore "protected" (to some degree) then patenting the physical thing as "unique" ensures one some legal protections as a timeline to execution, business evolution, and potential revenue. With this "unique physical device" patented it is of course controlled and managed by custom software. Protection by proxy for the custom software although not legally enforceable but since the device is "unique" this software has no other purpose. Modular design however through the entire hardware and software process ensures reusability at every turn; work smarter, not harder.
A lifetime of scars and lessons from these words so I hope this can help at least one person even if it's only a glancing blow answer to the OP question. My 2¢ from personal experiences which likely greatly differ from others so YMWV. Stay Healthy!
Thank you for taking time to respond. Appreciate it. Mine is all software however.