Good question and the answer are you must patent your new app idea. Let us look at the importance of having a patent.
A patent provides its owner with the right to exclude others from exploiting the patented technology, including, for example, making, using, or selling the patented invention. This “exclusive right” enables the patent owner to recoup development costs and obtain a return of investment in the development of the patented technology. Effective patent protection stimulates research and is a key requirement for raising venture capital. It is also crucial to overall economic growth. A company that decides to file patent applications should adopt a strategic approach that obtains value from patents while minimising costs associated with obtaining the patents.
Value from patents provide a wide range of value to their owners, some of which may be more applicable to one business or another. First, patents provide freedom of movement in the company’s field. For many companies, this freedom of movement can be unbelievably valuable, especially in a crowded field with many competitors or in a field dominated by one player. Filing patent applications early helps limit the risk that someone else has obtained (or will obtain) a patent on the same idea. This early mover position provides the company with greater assurance that it will not have to license technology from a patent holder. Indeed, the sooner patents are applied for, the better the chance that someone else will not be first.
Second, patents provide licencing opportunities with companies inside and sometimes even outside a company’s field. An active patent program can generate revenue from the licencing of patents which cover technology or business processes that are not practiced by the company. Patents allow individual inventors and small businesses the option of obtaining licenses or selling rights to others who may be in a better technical and/or financial position to bring the ideas to market. Rambus, Qualcomm, and other technology companies are among those that no longer manufacture products but rather focus on technology innovation and licencing. Some companies licence the intellectual property on technology used by the company to competitors, forcing the company to constantly innovate and re-invent itself. Other companies regularly patent technology which they never commercially practice, but instead sell to others that do.
Thirdly, patents provide increased overall corporate value. Corporate valuation relies greatly on a company’s intellectual assets, such as, patents. Today, the capital assets of Fortune 500 companies account for only 15% of the company’s value, whereas intellectual assets account for 85% of the company’s value. Fourthly, patents provide for the generation of prior art to protect the company from patent infringement suits. An active patent program provides a reservoir of prior art which prevents others from receiving patents which may exclude a company from practicing important technology and processes.
Patent application process To obtain a patent, a patent application has to be filed, describing the invention in technical terms detailed enough to enable a person of skill in the particular field to understand the invention well enough that he or she could “practice” the invention. The application must meet certain legal requirements. The Patent Office of the country in which the patent application is filed “examines” the invention described in the patent application for novelty and inventiveness. The examination may take two or more years. A patent in a country can be granted based on a patent application filed directly in that country. For example, a U.S. patent can be granted based on a patent application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and a German patent can be granted based on a patent application filed with the German Patent Office. A patent can also be granted based on a patent application filed first in one foreign country and then within 12 months filed in a second country with a claim of “priority” to the filing in the first foreign country. For example, a German patent can be based off of a German patent application filed 12 months after a U.S. patent application to which it claims priority.
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) offers a simplified patent application procedure for over 100 countries worldwide. It enables inventors to file a single international application designating many countries, instead of having to file separately for national or regional patents. In the “international” phase, an international search and preliminary examination are performed. In the “national” or “regional” phase, the patent granting procedure is then carried out by the relevant national or regional patent offices. Most frequently, the PCT application is filed 12 months from the filing of a patent application filed directly in the patent office one of the member countries, such as the U.S. or U.K.
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