According to some reports, the global application development platform market was valued at $5,497M in 2018 and is expected to reach $34,768M by 2025. This extraordinary predicted growth (32.9% pa) is based on the rising demand for commercial mobile devices and the emergence of cross-platform applications. There is certainly a vast amount of app development going on around the world: apparently there are over two million apps available for the iPhone alone, and nearly 2.3 apps available on Google Play!
Are you an app developer, or is your business involved in app development? Do you have, or are you developing, mobile applications to take your business into the digital age? If so, do you know how to protect the time, effort and money spent in developing an app? What can you do to prevent your global competitors from copying your app? Arguably equally importantly, do you know how to prevent competitors from making a sub-standard version of your app, confusing your customers and potentially damaging your brand and reputation? Do you know your rights if that should happen?
Spotting the Intellectual Property
Whenever anything innovative or creative is made, wherever there is innovative or creative input (time, effort and/or money), there is invariably intellectual property lurking, and often more than one type. Patents, registered designs, copyright and trade secrets, not to mention registered trade marks, should all be considered to try and protect the investment made in developing your app.
Patents
Patent protection for apps is often disregarded on the erroneous generalisation that software cannot be patented in the UK and Europe, and it is true that a computer program in itself cannot be patented in the UK and Europe. However, that does not necessarily mean that a computer-implemented system or method cannot be the subject of a patent, which essentially protects the underlying computer program in a ‘roundabout’ way, in terms of its function or how that function is achieved (usually both).
There are, of course, conditions that have to be met for this to be possible, and many apps will not meet the necessary criteria, but it is still worth exploring with an IP attorney, especially if your app has some technical effect on something other than itself, such as image data (or, in fact, any data) from an external source (even if it is stored on the same mobile device on which the app is running), or on an external device such as a printer, plug socket, lightbulb, etc. If an app has some sort of “technical effect” or offers some form of technical advance, then patent protection may well be an option, and certainly shouldn’t be dismissed without consultation.
But, even if it isn’t patentable, there are other types of IP to consider…
Registered Designs
Registered designs can be used to protect your user interface(s) (i.e. the way the app looks to the user). Even moving or animated parts of a user interface, such as innovative user interactions, can be the subject of a registered design in many major jurisdictions, including the UK and the EU, and the potential power of this type of protection should not be overlooked. Don’t forget, IP is not just there to enable you to prevent competing products from taking part of your market share, but it can also act to prevent sub-standard or poor quality copies from confusing your customers and, potentially, damaging your brand due to poor quality performance or a disappointing user experience from an app they think is yours because the landing page looks very similar.
Copyright
Copyright protects the software code, of course, and also any original artistic works (including animated characters, icons and videos, etc.) Even artistic works created whilst using the app, for example, screenshots of gaming positions during play of a gaming app, attract copyright. Copyright in the UK arises automatically, as soon as a qualifying artistic work is created, but it is important to know it is there and what rights it gives you, and we also recommend that you mark various aspects of the app with a ©, the name of the owner of the copyright, and the year in which it was created. For example:
© Strachan IP Ltd 2021
Trade Secrets
Trade secrets may also be relevant, of course, if there are valuable elements of your app that can remain secret (for example, key algorithms that could not be reverse-engineered) and, if this is the case, we strongly recommend that you include a formal trade secrets policy within your IP strategy.
Registered Trade Marks
Last, but by no means least, registered trade marks can be used to protect the name of the app and, arguably more importantly, the logo you will use as your thumbnail on the various app stores, because many people identify the app they want by the thumbnail and if your competitor is using a very similar logo, your customers may click on their app rather than yours.
Need Help?
We recommend that you speak to an IP attorney before you launch your app, because once it has been launched, your ability to validly apply for a patent and (in many countries) a registered design may be impaired. If you need help to work out where your most valuable IP is, and how to protect it, or if you have any other IP questions, we are happy to offer a confidential initial consultation, which is free of charge and obligation. Please book your free initial consultation by clicking the link below:
https://calendly.com/strachan-ip-a-fresh-view-of-intellectual-property/30min
or by calling 07714 797135 or emailing vicki.strachan@strachanip.co.uk
or you can contact us through our website: https://strachanip.co.uk/contact/
