Computer Software and Intellectual Property

Citation: Office of Technology Assessment, Computer Software and Intellectual Property (1989).

In early 1989, the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice of the House Committee on the Judiciary (now the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and Judicial Administration) requested OTA’s assistance in considering the issues related to the protection of computer software in a changing international marketplace. OTA prepared this report, which examined the then-current application of copyright, patent, and trade secret laws to computer software. It also provided an overview of the often conflicting views and concerns of various stakeholders among industry, academia, and the public at large.