Copyright and patents protect entirely different kinds of software. Copyright protects software that's more work to write than to think about (e.g. Windows). Patents protect software that's more work to think about than to write (e.g. PageRank or whatever's inside Google's self-driving cars).
Why not grant patents to the self-driving car as a whole? In Canada, you cannot patent software unless it's within the scope of a physical product, like a car.
Also, PageRank clearly doesn't need a patent. Google's done just fine against competitors that have ripped off their technique.
> Why not grant patents to the self-driving car as a whole?
How do you do that?
The first person to think of the concept of "self-driving car" gets the patent? That will just lead to a flood of patents on things that don't exist yet -- basically a patent troll's dream.
Perhaps the first company to build a working prototype? What happens to all the other companies that almost have a working prototype -- do they now have to sit on the sidelines for 10 years?
How do you even know what a "working prototype" is in that scenario? Is it acceptable if it is just capable of driving on straight roads during sunny days with no other cars or people around?
I think patents on specific, narrow pieces can make sense: for example a laser-based 3D vision system, or a specific algorithm that identifies people about to walk in front of the car (even that is tough, because there's a thousands of very distinct approaches to that problem).
Patenting the entire system (the "self-driving car") makes about as much sense as say, Herman Miller patenting the concept of a wheeled office chair. They can patent elements of their lift mechanism, specific wheel designs, or arm adjustments, but not the concept of combining wheels and a place to sit.
A very large number of patents also protect Windows and its component parts and methods such as the file system; when other OSes have tried to be compatible in any way, Microsoft has demanded and gotten royalties, for example from Android phones.
