How to Get Patent to your Mobile App Idea

Do you have a great and unique idea for an app? but a bit scared that someone may take your app idea and use it before you come up live?

When you build something inventive and new, you must make sure that your product is protected. To procure a patent for your app, you should know much about how it works that you could teach a newcomer how to build it from scratch.  Before going in-depth into the topic, let us answer the general questions about the proper protection of such apps. 

What is Patent for a mobile app?

A patent is something very intellectual property law and will prevent your idea to exclude others from making, using, or selling it. Intellectual property law includes especially trademark, patent, and copyright law to protect mobile app ideas.

Can mobile apps be patented?

The answer to the above question is “yes,” but it very important to understand what means. It means that you cannot patent the code of your app. The code falls under the category of the law incorporated by copyrights. But the app as a whole comes under the category of method and process that means the method and processes can be patented along with machines, articles of manufacture and compositions of matter.

Before getting into deep let’s see what are the types of patent applications available.

What are the various types of Patent Applications?

There are two types of patent applications available.

Provisional Application

A provisional patent application is the most common type o patenting an app idea. Most of the mobile app development companies prefer this provisional application when beginning with the patent process. In this, you are allowed to file without even a formal patent claim, declaration, or any information disclosure statement. 

• • Benefits of Provisional Application
    • Allows to register an international application and claim pre-eminence within 12 months.
    • Enable you to apply the term “patent pending” on the products.
    • To prepare and file the application is less expensive compared to a non-provisional patent. 
    • It allows 12 months to develop and improve the MVP ultimately.

Non-provisional Application

Non-provisional Application allows applying without claiming any priority of the application that is made in a convention country or without any implication to the app that is previously in process in the office is known as non-provisional application. It is accompanied by a complete specification and claims and also holds information like a written summary of the invention and at least one claim that legally determines the metes and bounds of the invention.

An experienced patent attorney helps you to determine whether patent protection is right for you or not. Even the attorney helps you with the patent application process. Getting patent protection on novel and ono-obvious inventions is essential for keeping others away from stealing your idea.

what comes next to do? 

What to do to patent a mobile app?

• Initially, you need to know that you can patent your idea. If your mobile app is only in the conceptual stage, then you cannot patent your idea. To get a patent, your concept should get developed by one of the best mobile app development company.
• The second thing to consider is that the mobile app developer must be new and unique, that means that it must be capable and being used in the industry before. To get the patent, the product developed must involve an inventive step, and the step involved must be innovative. 

Is it worth to patent mobile app idea?

Yes, of course, the patenting for a mobile app is worth. Though the patenting process may take months or even years and can cost a thousand dollars. This doesn’ mean that it is not worthy. Spending money on securing a patent has proved to be commercially useful in the long run. However, the technology market being so dynamic, and the apps are being developed diurnal, it does justify the question of whether it is worth to patent a mobile app. It was a known fact that the mobile app software can become outdated very quickly, and get protection over a process that outdated code will be replaced very soon with the new code which will not be cost-effective. 

Things to think when looking for a patent for a mobile app idea

• What are the reasons for a patent for mobile app
• How does the patent effects concerning your business objectives and strategies
• Whether the patent is the form of protection bets suited, as opposed to a trademark for your app name or logo.
• What was the cost and timeline of getting the patent compared to your business plan for developing and launching the app?
• What are the benefits of having the patent and how the patent adds value to the products or your business?

What are the requirements to patent a mobile app?

 The first thing to consider is that your software app must fulfill the requirements to qualify for a patent. The rules governing the issuance of a patent are stringent and demanding. Here is the list of requirements to patent a mobile app.

Requirements to patent a mobile app

• The app has to be new and non-obvious: Never be over-excited just because your software solves a problem and it doesn’t mean your patent application is approved. It that your app idea should be unique, non-obvious, and innovative. In other words, the app needs to solve the existing problem in a way that other solutions do not. 
• Qualified to useful: The app developed must require concrete and detailed explanation like how your application works to claim ownership over it. Your patent for the app will be confirmed only when it is qualified to use. You should be very particular that your app idea should not fall under in entertaining and any other category. 
• The idea should be Invention: The main moto of the patent is to protect inventions. In general, a patent is approved to the invention only when the invention describes a solution to any problem. 
• App idea should be a real solution and not an abstract idea or concept: A patent will not be approved to a general-purpose or concept; the idea should be a practical solution. A patent is granted to a new machine, manufacture, etc. For example, a software that would let a general form of voice-activated navigation could not be patented. But you can patent it where it’s physically installed on a chip to permit voice-activated navigation in a drone. 

When to file a patent for a mobile app?

The main reason why entrepreneurs and startups prefer to fill the provisional patent before disclosing the important details publicly. Patenting an app idea does not mean that it is not allowed to the person, who invented it, but it is ceded to the one who first files patent against it. Any patent attorneys advice to patent an app idea before discussing it to any potential investors. Even by signing the NDA(Non-disclosure Agreement), you can protect yourself from filing fast.

What is the cost to file for a patent for a mobile app?

Cost for patenting an app idea depends on the type of patent you apply. You can develop and launch the app, once you filed a provisional patent. A professional patent lasts a year, and you can use this period to test your app’s success. 

If you filed for a non-provisional patent, it would be examined by the USPTO which takes between one and three years to review thoroughly and also search existing patents to check if it is eligible or not.

Bottom Line

Patenting is a complex law, and it is difficult to know whether the inventiveness is patentable and whether it is worth patenting. The suggestion is to speak to an IP expert who can give you advice about whether you and should patent your product.

If you have any perplexity regarding mobile app development, mobile app idea to convert into an app, Indian and UK app developers cost to develop a mobile app, get in touch with us. 

Krify is the top and leading mobile app development company in India and the UK and developed over 500+ mobile apps of diverse categories. To reach us just fill our contact form and one of our sales executives will get back to you shortly. The consultation won’t cost you any money.