From product creativity to page design to large-scale promotion, almost every process of the APP is closely related to intellectual property rights. How should the APP that has been developed so hard use intellectual property rights to build a barrier in all aspects? ?

Trademark protection

The names of APPs are unique. Even if they are occasionally similar, they must not be the same, such as WeChat and Yixin. In order to make your name unique and influential, it is always necessary to register the necessary trademark. What will happen if you don’t choose? First there was the Didi trademark dispute, and then there was the WeChat trademark war. After a heated dispute, WeChat finally defended its trademark, while Didi eventually lost the right to use the trademark.

my country's trademark registration follows the "first to file principle". For an identical or similar trademark application, the first applicant to apply for trademark registration will obtain the exclusive right to the trademark. If the APP trademark is registered by others, it will either spend a lot of money to buy back the trademark, or be forced to change its name like Didi Taxi, Xiyou and other APPs.

Apps usually consist of two parts: a LOGO and a name. Plagiarism of either part may cause confusion among users, so it is best to register the trademark for both the APP's LOGO and name.

The core categories of APP trademark registration include:

Category 9: including computer hardware, software, etc. Among them, many items in "0901 Electronic computers and their peripheral equipment" involve computers, software, downloads, etc., such as computer programs (downloadable software), downloadable computer application software, recorded computer operating programs, etc. , these are the "key focus objects" of APP;

Category 35: Online advertising on computer networks, displaying goods on communication media for retail purposes, providing commercial information through websites, promoting for others, etc. ;

Category 38: Computer-assisted information and image transmission, provision of telecommunications connection services with global computer networks, provision of Internet chat rooms, digital file transmission, provision of online forums, etc.;

< p>Category 42: Including the design and development of computer hardware and software, etc. Among them, "4220 Computer Programming and Related Services" is a category that is inseparable from the Internet industry. Computer software updates, computer software maintenance, electronic data storage, etc. all fall into this category. APPs usually need to register trademarks in this category.

In addition, APP also needs to choose specific categories and expanded categories based on different service contents.

Copyright Protection

Software Copyright Protection

The number of software registrations in hot areas represented by APP, Internet of Things, embedded, geographical information, etc. has increased in recent years. All showed varying degrees of rapid growth. APP software has become one of the fastest growing hot software categories in my country.

Our country draws on advanced international management experience and implements a copyright registration system for computer software, including APPs presented in the form of software. That is, APPs obtain obvious rights certification documents after software registration. Although the copyright is automatically generated when the work is completed, the APP obtains the software copyright registration certificate through software registration, which will actually have a publicity-like effect, making it easier to determine the ownership of the copyright in the event of a dispute.

Apps that can apply for copyright software registration must be independently developed by the developer and fixed on some tangible object. The copyright protection for APP does not extend to the ideas, processing procedures, operating methods or mathematical concepts used in developing the APP.

Copyright Registration

All core content, ideas, images, character designs, art, etc. presented in the APP can be registered as copyright works. Taking the APP's LOGO as an example, choosing to register a trademark does not prevent the simultaneous registration of a copyrighted work, as long as the LOGO meets the definition of a work under the Copyright Law, that is, it is productive in the fields of literature, art and science and can be used in some tangible way. The intellectual achievement of formal reproduction.

In addition to the APP's LOGO, its product creativity, page design, page content, pictures, videos, music and other aspects can be applied for copyright registration independently or in combination. In contrast, there is a risk of infringement when plagiarizing or imitating the content of the above-mentioned works of other people's APPs. The "God of Food Shake" APP was claimed by the latter for copyright infringement because it was suspected of plagiarizing the "Dianping" APP.

Patent protection

If you change the page design of the APP but still imitate the functions of the original APP, you may bypass copyright law protection; if you change the name of the APP, you may bypass it. Trademark law protection; if after careful study, you understand the design ideas of the APP, and rewrite the APP software using different programming languages ????according to this idea, it may not be determined as infringement of software copyright. Patents protect innovative technical solutions. If an APP can obtain patent protection, then from a certain perspective, it can make up for the lack of trademark and copyright protection, making the entire APP's intellectual property protection layout more complete.

my country’s APP patents have shown a significant growth trend since 2003. In 2015, the number of APP-related patent applications exceeded 10,000, reaching a peak, but the vast majority of APP patent applications were not authorized in the end. Only when a certain technology in the APP or a product based on the APP has novelty, creativity and practicality, and can be expressed in the form of a technical solution, can the technical solution or product based on the APP apply for patent protection. .

So what issues do you need to pay attention to when applying for a patent for an APP?

Classification of APPs

The functions of the APP itself need to be realized by computer code. At the same time, the purpose of most APPs is In implementing a business approach. So related to APP are computer software patents and business method patents. In the international patent classification standard, patents involving APP mainly belong to the G06Q business method classification. When applying for an APP patent from the State Intellectual Property Office, you need to specifically determine the patent type according to the current "2015 International Patent Classification Standards". When applying for a patent, APP can refer to the most similar provisions in the "Patent Examination Guidelines" - Chapter 9 of the "Patent Examination Guidelines" - Several Provisions on the Examination of Invention Patent Applications Involving Computer Programs.

According to "several regulations on the review of invention patent applications involving computer programs", if the APP falls under the "pure intellectual rule", it is excluded from the scope of patent authorization; if it belongs to a "technical solution" , can be included in the scope of patent authorization, so how to write application documents to make it belong to a "technical solution"?

How to write APP patent application documents

Writing instructions

1. In addition to describing the technical solution of the invention as a whole, the description of an invention patent application involving a computer program must also clearly and completely describe the design concept and technical features of the computer program and Implementation methods to achieve its technical effects.

2. The instructions should be based on the given computer program flow, and describe each step of the computer program in natural language according to the chronological order of the flow.

3. If an invention patent application involving a computer program contains inventive content that changes the hardware structure of a computer device, the drawings attached to the description should provide a structural diagram of the hardware entity of the computer device, and the description should be based on the hardware entity. The structural diagram clearly and completely describes the various hardware components of the computer device and their interrelationships, subject to the ability of those skilled in the art to implement them.

Writing of claims

1. The claims of invention patent applications involving computer programs can be written as method claims or product claims, that is, implementation device for this method.

2. No matter which form of claim is written, it must be supported by the description, and it must reflect the technical solution of the invention as a whole and record the necessary technical features to solve the technical problem, and cannot just Briefly describe the functions of the computer program and the results that the functions can achieve.

3. If written as a method claim, the various functions performed by the computer program and how to complete these functions should be described in detail according to the steps of the method flow.

4. If it is written as a device claim, it should specifically describe the various components of the device and the relationship between the components, and describe in detail which components complete the various functions of the computer program. and how to accomplish these functions.

Other issues in the protection of APP rights? Trade secrets

APPs developed by programmers according to the requirements of the unit are professional works. The author has the right of authorship, and the unit has other related rights.

In the business world of the Internet, ideas and creativity play an important role and are one of the important intangible assets of Internet companies. Therefore, the protection of internal information of the company is particularly important. Attention should be paid to confidentiality and non-competition agreements with employees to prevent employees from leaking the company's APP development information to other competitors during their employment or after their resignation. When signing a labor contract with employees, you can stipulate relevant confidentiality obligations and corresponding liability for breach of contract. If you want to sign a non-compete agreement with employees, you need to provide certain compensation to the employees, and the agreed period shall not exceed two years.

Although you will feel angry if someone copies your own APP, being plagiarized also implies that you have indeed made a useful or attractive product. Just because your product has merit, people will be looking at it and trying to profit from it.

Perhaps most counterfeit products do not actually pose a real threat to your product, but only by fully defending and protecting yourself can you take up legal weapons to resolutely defend your territory when necessary!

I particularly like this sentence? Plagiarists will always live in the past and have no soul of their own?! As long as the innovators of APP provide necessary legal protection, uphold the spirit of innovation and the attitude of continuous pursuit, they will surely lead thousands of miles. , let the plagiarists follow you forever!