Research On Appropriate Protection Of Software Intellectual Property

The legal protection of software intellectual property is the hottest realm in intellectual property protection research and, also, one of the realms that easily arouses arguments. Of particular dispute is how software intellectual property can strike the precarious balance between innovation and monopoly. The appropriate protection of software intellectual property requires that the Chinese software industry communicate to the world, adhere to the treaties that China has signed, stimulate innovation, and protect private rights. But, more importantly, the Chinese software industry must meet the demands of our software needs and promote the beneficial spread of knowledge.First, this thesis compares our legal system of software intellectual property with those of the USA, EU, Japan, and Taiwan. Second, this thesis will examine the change of software intellectual property law over time. After an overview of our software intellectual property law system, the thesis applies the 2002 regulations on software intellectual property protection by using benefit balance principle to analyze three issues.By using economic methods to analyze hypothetical legal issues the thesis draws the conclusion that we should protect our software intellectual property by appropriately balancing the protection of private rights and public rights. Further, the level of development of a country should be considered when determining the appropriate degree of software intellectual property to protect continued innovations while still stimulating the spread of knowledge. The author emphasizes the needs for adjustments to inappropriate and unreasonable clauses and restrains that protect monopolies of software intellectual property. Finally, the thesis suggests that China should create anti-monopoly laws to restrain the abuse of software intellectual property.