Rather it covers the design, methodology, and architecture of the software.
None of which is discernable by the end user from the outside. To protect such things from your competitor, just keep them secret - there should be no need to patent them.
But if you make an engine, I can look at it, disassemble it, take it apart and find out how it works. I can then make my own version and sell it.
With software, all the clever stuff goes on behind the scenes. I've used Photoshop, but that doesn't help me code my own Photoshop.
Software doesn't need patents to protect it becuase the amount of effort to reverse engineer some code is often more than the energy needed to code something new in the firstplace.
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None of which is discernable by the end user from the outside. To protect such things from your competitor, just keep them secret - there should be no need to patent them.
But if you make an engine, I can look at it, disassemble it, take it apart and find out how it works. I can then make my own version and sell it.
With software, all the clever stuff goes on behind the scenes. I've used Photoshop, but that doesn't help me code my own Photoshop.
Software doesn't need patents to protect it becuase the amount of effort to reverse engineer some code is often more than the energy needed to code something new in the firstplace.