Copyright versus software patents

ICT hubs are sprawiing all over EA to assist developers nurture and bring to market new apps. Wondering does copyright offer real protection against infringement- i am told copyright protects the code only and not the idea behind the code hence one can easily steal and exploit the idea by simply re coding or reverse engineer the code. Against backgroung of M pesa inventor controvecy ,should we adapt software patent as means to protect intellectual property rights of EA developers.