Some types of app will be patentable, but others will not. Whether or not you can get a patent for your app will depend on what it actually does, and isn’t a straightforward question. In addition, even if you are able to patent it, you may not want to. However, once patented, the patent may last for up to 20 years, so it can be a very valuable right.
To be patentable, an invention must be new and must involve an “inventive step” over what was known or done before. A computer program or app will only be granted a patent in the UK or Europe where the new and inventive part of the program solves a technical problem, rather than relating to an improved method of doing business, or software in itself.
So, for example, an app that finds your car in a car park could be patentable, but an improved spreadsheet-editing app, or a game, would not. In the US and Japan, a wider range of computer software inventions can be patented.
Should you patent it?
The main reason for getting a patent is to protect your app from being copied by someone else, but it will not protect you from accusations that you have copied someone else’s app. In addition, you will be required to disclose the essential features of the software in the patent application, which could benefit your competitors.
Aspects of the app will attract other forms of intellectual property protection, such as copyright, which will give you some automatic protection. This may protect aspects of the graphical user interface, as well as other elements such as the underlying code.
Finally, although patents can be invaluable, they can be expensive and time-consuming to obtain, so you should consider how long the market for your app is likely to last, and what its value is.
What should you do to patent it?
Once you have decided that your app could be patentable, you should check that no one else has already disclosed or invented it, by carrying out searches (a simple Google search will be a good start, as well as searches at, for example, the UK Intellectual Property Office). You should then consider the cost, and decide whether to apply for a patent.
Applying for a patent is a complex process, and so professional advice should be obtained. Given the requirement that the invention must be new, you should file your patent application before disclosing the invention to anyone anywhere in the world (other than under express terms of confidentiality). Showing your app to some investors before you’ve filed could defeat any chance of getting a patent.