Patent on programming code?

[GenQ]

New York, New York
It's possible that in the future some code I have written might be patented. I am concerned because I asked a couple questions about it on StackOverflow while writing it. I did not give away the end result of what I was doing or what I am using the code for, and the questions were generalized enough to just have a simple answer.
The answers pointed me in the right direction and I haven't used a single snippet of code from the answers given to me (except if they were referring to a built-in matlab function), I understand everything that I have written.I did not give away any company secrets or share any information. Most of the questions I asked no longer cover anything my code does.
I don't believe my company is against StackOverflow. Will this be a problem?

 

[quincy]

New York, New York
It's possible that in the future some code I have written might be patented. I am concerned because I asked a couple questions about it on StackOverflow while writing it. I did not give away the end result of what I was doing or what I am using the code for, and the questions were generalized enough to just have a simple answer.
The answers pointed me in the right direction and I haven't used a single snippet of code from the answers given to me (except if they were referring to a built-in matlab function), I understand everything that I have written.I did not give away any company secrets or share any information. Most of the questions I asked no longer cover anything my code does.
I don't believe my company is against StackOverflow. Will this be a problem?

Disclosing an invention prior to applying for a patent can eliminate the novelty element necessary for a patent application to be approved. You are best served, when asking questions about the patentability of your invention, to sit down with a patent attorney for the answers and not look for answers on public forums.

 

[justalayman]

Not sure what your question is.

Are you intending on seeking a patent or is there an employer that may be seeking the patent?

What is your a concern of the queries at stackoverflow?



Regardless of the answer, take heed of
Quincy's post.

 

[GenQ]

What do you mean by disclosing? If the program I am writing does qualify for a patent would this get me in trouble?

 

[GenQ]

StackOverflow helps programmers figure out answers to certain questions. I had some questions about certain parts of my code, so I asked them for advice. My employer liked my code and mentioned seeking one.

 

[quincy]

StackOverflow helps programmers figure out answers to certain questions. I had some questions about certain parts of my code, so I asked them for advice. My employer liked my code and mentioned seeking one.

Your employer might own all rights to your code if you are creating it as part of your employment.

For a patent to be granted, inventions need to be both non-obvious and novel. If you work with others on your invention without the benefit of a non-disclosure agreement, you can lose the "novelty" element. An invention that has been described in any published document or put to public use or disclosed to the public prior to a patent application being filed will no longer be novel. What you probably should have done is file a Provisional Patent application.

In other words, you may have lost your ability to patent your code and, although you might be able to register a copyright, this will depend on whether your employer can claim all rights in your work.

I recommend you sit down with an IP attorney in your area to discuss your invention, to protect whatever rights you may have in it.

 

[FlyingRon]

As Quincy says, if you disclose the patent either by putting the essentials of it on a forum like StackOverflow (or here for that matter) or even in a product released to the public, you've likely destroyed the "novelty" requirement for a patent and everybody is forever barred from patenting that.

Your employer better get some assistance about what constitutes patentability before they waste a lot of money pursing a patent that they can't get or defend.

 

[quincy]

As Quincy says, if you disclose the patent either by putting the essentials of it on a forum like StackOverflow (or here for that matter) or even in a product released to the public, you've likely destroyed the "novelty" requirement for a patent and everybody is forever barred from patenting that.

Your employer better get some assistance about what constitutes patentability before they waste a lot of money pursing a patent that they can't get or defend.

Yup. It seems that the best course of action for GenQ and/or his employer to take is to sit down with an IP attorney in NYC.