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Patent and Trademark Resource Center at Oklahoma State University: Mobile Apps

Protection for Mobile Apps

Mobile App Center at OSU

Apps

Apps are mostly protected by copyright and trademarks

See The Business of iPhone and iPad App Development, Protecting Your Intellectual Property, Copyright © 2011 by Dave Wooldridge, with Michael Schneider


“A copyright is a strong and affordable means of protecting your app’s content and code, but copyrights protect creative expression of ideas; they don’t protect the ideas themselves.”

“I believe trademark represents an iOS developers’ most affordable and effective means of fending off competitors... Trademark doesn’t protect concepts or ideas, but it can protect the logo or name that you give your app, if that logo or name is distinctive enough. Trademarks are a way to keep other developers from exploiting the goodwill you establish with your app or concept.”