Key Intellectual Property Rights in Mobile Apps

By Shreyansh Gupta, 29th March, 2024

With the widespread adoption of smartphones and tablets, businesses are increasingly leveraging mobile apps to streamline operations, enhance customer engagement, and drive growth. However, besides creating a mobile application protecting its intellectual property rights is equally important. This article talks about underlying intellectual properties existing in a mobile application along with legal remedies to safeguard them and has been written by Shreyansh Gupta, a second year student of Faculty of Law, University of Delhi.

Introduction

In the era of 21st century when the AI is leading and taking storm in every other industry, you must have encountered plethora of content on various online platforms explaining how AI can replace the human intellect, however, you cannot deny the fact that how now-a-days, the artificial intelligence is helping you in your everyday tasks. Whether you are a student, a businessman or a working professional, AI is always there to ease your work.

Using AI in the business is now the key to make your business more profitable as it involves new avenues of doing business online. Artificial intelligence has assisted business owners in expanding their businesses through various ways such as development of websites, chatbots, and mobile applications. Developing a website or a mobile application decreases the involvement of the owner providing them more time to focus on their business. But what if someone replicates some element from your app say your logo, your privacy policy or your UI. Wouldn’t all the efforts that you as an app developer invest in your app would go to vain? Addressing the above-mentioned questions, in this article, we will be discussing the underlying forms of intellectual property existing in a mobile application and the ways by which such elements can be protected.

Intellectual Property Right laws play a significant role in the creation of a mobile app as they ensure that the innovators and creators can take benefits of their hard work and investment, fostering innovation and economic growth without fear of being copied. For example, consider the case of “Chai Chat,” a popular mobile app that connects tea enthusiasts across India. By securing copyrights for its user interface and source code, Chai Chat ensures that its innovative features remain exclusive to the app.

Let’s begin with discussing major kinds of intellectual properties rights existing in an app. There are three major types of protection available to protect an app- Patents, Trademark and Copyright. Patents safeguard innovative features, trademarks protect brand identity, and copyrights cover original content. Emerging trends include design protection for UI elements and trade secrets for non-disclosable aspects of an app. Let’s understand each of the elements in detail.

Different Types of Intellectual Property Rights lying in a mobile application

Patents: As per the Patents Act, 1970, there are certain criteria that need to be fulfilled to obtain patent in India such as novelty, inventive step and capability of the invention to be used in industrial application. Software inventions, including mobile apps, are eligible for patent protection if they fulfil the above mentioned three criteria. Therefore, if you have an innovative app idea, obtaining a patent can greatly enhance the safeguarding of your intellectual property. It’s crucial to understand that patents primarily protect the functionality or purpose of your app, not its content like the source code.
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time. Software is not given protection under patent but shall be protected only when attached with novel hardware, an invention that is unique and capable of industrial use. It provides a type of monopoly on their creations. For example: a patent on a bulb by Thomas Edison; a patent on a phone design by Steve Jobs; a patent on a GPS and a 3D printer.
Trademarks: Trademarks are symbols, names, or designs that distinguish the goods or services of one party from others. The Company should aim at protecting the mobile app by getting the name, logo, and their brand registered under the Trademark law. They build brand recognition and consumer trust. For Example: Think of the iconic logos of some famous apps like Blinkit and Instagram.
Copyrights: Copyrights protect original works of authors such as literary, dramatic, artistic, and musical works. They safeguard creators’ rights and incentivize artistic expression. Copyright is generally used to protect artistic and design elements and also for the literal content used in an app such as source code and descriptive content. In context of an app, copyright subsists in the source code, user interface, information pertaining to the product/services mentioned in the app or any other text conditional that such work must be the product of the author’s own creative effort and must not be copied from another source.
Trade Secrets: Trade secrets are confidential information that provides a competitive advantage. They include formulas, processes, or techniques that give businesses an edge in the market. For example, Coca-Cola has a trade secret for its recipe. Non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality agreements are the two most popular tools to preserve trade secrets of an organization. Many big brands prefer trade secrets over any other because they don’t want to disclose the details of their IP to the general public. Trade secrets are an expensive affair for the brands compared to other forms of IP, such as patents, which instead generate income for the company. Yet the big brands choose trade secrets to maintain the confidentiality and protect the specifications of their IP from falling into public domain.
Industrial Designs: Industrial designs protect the visual appearance of products. They prevent the unauthorized use of unique designs. If your UI has a unique and original appearance, you can register it under the Designs Act to get extra protection.
Design rights protect the appearance of a product, i.e. its ornamental or aesthetic aspects. For mobile apps, this could be the aesthetic elements of GUIs. Protection extends to the specific appearance, not to the abstract idea thereof. The duration of protection for a design varies significantly, between 10 and 25 years.

Many big apps register their Intellectual Property Rights under more than one head to ensure stronger protection as each IP comes with it’s own set of benefits.

Conclusion

Other than the primary business and the basic services provided by an app, it can generate other income streams as well like running ads in between, including in-app purchases . However, apart from the benefits, there are also various challenges faced by the app owners, particularly smaller business owners, such as data privacy, app cloning, complexity and cost associated with it. With periodical scrutiny and keeping detailed records, timely renewals of registrations and regular review of IP strategies will ensure longer protection of intellectual property rights of a mobile application.

Protecting intellectual property rights is essential for fostering innovation, creativity, and economic growth. By understanding the various types of IP rights and implementing proactive protection strategies, businesses can safeguard their valuable creations and investments in the digital age. One should ensure that an application complies with relevant laws and regulations, including consumer protection, data privacy, and intellectual property laws. It is always recommended to seek guidance from experienced attorneys specializing in intellectual property law to develop tailor made strategies to your app’s unique needs.

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