Overreaching Provisions in Software License Agreements

Historically, software license agreements emerged as the most popular means of protection of proprietary rights in computer software. As a common form of contract and trade secret protection, software licenses coexist with other forms of intellectual property rights such as patent and copyright. The importance of these forms of protection has recently increased. Where the licensor fails to consider the implications of the relation between these forms of protection, the licensor\u27s attempts to maximize contractual protection while restricting the licensee\u27s activities regarding the licensed software may result in overreaching. Under these circumstances, a court may invalidate the license agreement in whole or in part