Tips for legally protecting your mobile app

With over 6 million apps currently circulating the major digital marketplaces, it is becoming increasingly difficult for app developers to generate new and engaging content. Unfortunately, such fierce competition occasionally leads to intellectual theft too. In fact, there have been a number of cases in recent years when copyright infringements have led to legal action and app developers have had to fight to protect their content. Here are some tips on how to protect your app business.

Use non-disclosure agreements

Trying to keep your app under wraps before its official release date can be quite difficult, especially if you have a large company that employs a lot of staff. Of course, there’s no reason to doubt your team but you may also work with external companies for things like marketing and advertising which can put your content at risk of exposure. Non-disclosure agreements will enter those who sign them into a legally binding contract that prohibits them from sharing information about the project.

Get a trademark

Even at the very early stages of your project, it’s important to protect your brand and ensure that your concepts, visuals and ideas aren’t copied or stolen. If your app is the next big thing, you need to ensure that clone apps don’t come along and steal the success of your hard work. Be sure to trademark your app logo and name to ensure this doesn’t happen.

Take legal action

If your hard work pays off and your app starts to climb the charts, you may become a target for copycats. If you feel that another app development business has infringed on your trademark or has stolen your code, it’s important to raise your concerns and pursue them. You could just make the issue public to discourage users from supporting the developer or you may wish to take legal action if you feel you have a strong case. This will set a precedent within the industry and show other developers they cannot steal your content without repercussions.

Be original

It’s vital to take measures to protect your content but you should also look inwards to ensure that you are not at risk of legal action. Getting inspired by successful apps is good but make sure you implement structural procedures to ensure that all of your graphic content and code is totally original and doesn’t infringe on the copyrights and trademarks of competitors.