Editing Software (section)

===Patents===
{{Main|Software patent|Software patent debate}}
[[Patent]]s give an inventor an exclusive, time-limited license for a novel product or process.{{sfn|O'Regan|2022|p=395}} Ideas about what software could accomplish are not protected by law and concrete implementations are instead covered by [[copyright law]]. In some countries, a requirement for the claimed invention to have an effect on the physical world may also be part of the requirements for a software patent to be held valid.<ref>Gerardo Con Díaz, "The Text in the Machine: American Copyright Law and the Many Natures of Software, 1974–1978", ''Technology and Culture'' 57 (October 2016), 753–79.</ref> [[Software patent]]s have been [[Software patent debate|historically controversial]]. Before the 1998 case ''[[State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc.]]'', software patents were generally not recognized in the United States. In that case, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] decided that business processes could be patented.{{sfn|Jones|2014|p=19}} Patent applications are complex and costly, and lawsuits involving patents can drive up the cost of products.{{sfn|O'Regan|2022|p=398}} Unlike copyrights, patents generally only apply in the jurisdiction where they were issued.{{sfn|O'Regan|2022|p=399}}