How to patent an app in Spain

How to patent apps

If you have an idea regarding the creation of an application and you don't want it to be plagiarized or someone to get ahead of you, be sure to read today these recommendations that we bring for it. Nowadays, technology gives us many options to be creative, and in the world of application development a wide range opens up.

If you have created an app, you are giving life to a project that has its reason for being, its specific characteristics and a lot of time dedicated to it. for all this we want to prevent anyone from copying our idea, sell it or profit from the work that has cost us so much effort.

How to patent an application?

The first option to protect our creations is to legally patent it, It is usually the usual medium for inventions and brands, but you should know that when it comes to computer software and applications, things change. But before explaining the whole process, let's first see what a patent consists of.

What is a patent?

The technical definition of a patent is as follows:

"A set of exclusive rights granted by a State to the inventor of a new product or technology, capable of being commercially exploited for a limited period of time, in exchange for the disclosure of the invention."

On the website of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism we can see that the patent is a title that recognizes the right to exclusively exploit the patented invention, preventing others from manufacturing, selling or using it without the consent of the owner.

The right granted by a Patent is not so much that of manufacturing, offering on the market and using the object of the Patent, but rather that gives "the right to exclude others" from the manufacture, use or introduction of the product or process patented in the trade.

The Patent may refer to a new procedure, a new apparatus, a new product or an improvement or improvement thereof. The duration of the Patent is twenty years from the filing date of the application.. To keep it in force, it is necessary to pay annual fees as of its granting.

How does it affect mobile applications?

The first thing you should know when it comes to computer programs or software is that an application is not susceptible to being patented. As reflected in Law 24/2015, of July 24, on Patents, since its article 4.4 establishes the following:

«Inventions in the sense of the previous sections will not be considered, in particular: c) The plans, rules and methods for the exercise of intellectual activities, for games or for economic-commercial activities, as well as computer programs».

Therefore, we have already made it clear to you thatComputer programs cannot be patented. By extension, mobile applications are included in this section. It is also determined in the European regulations in its European Patent Convention, which, together with the Patent Law, complements Spanish legislation on this subject.

patent applications

But do not despair, because there are a series of exceptions so that you can exercise the option to patent that application you have developed. In order for an application or software to be patented, it must meet certain requirements and must be of a technical nature, or provide a novel solution.

As the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office points out our creation may be patented only if it is novel and without prior disclosure, if it is distinguished by a non-obvious inventive step and if it is capable of industrial application, that is, it is possible to manufacture the invention in a physical way.

The next step is that we must look at whether or not the application you have created is a novelty in the market. For this, the software it contains must be unique and completely new at all levels. Then it will be validated by an expert in the field who confirms it. Therefore that technology we have created cannot exist anywhere else on the planet. In addition, it has to meet other requirements such as autonomously interacting with its environment.

As you see the process is not easy, and the option of patenting an application is usually a long road that can take months of waiting. Do not forget that economically it is an expensive process, since sometimes patenting something can cost more than €2.000.

Is your idea already patented?

Before starting the path of a patent we must make sure that our idea has not yet been patented. For this we can make use of the internet and its possibilities since we can find different websites that give us the option of searching for already registered patents, the best thing is that this is at least free.

Among the different options we have we start with patent scope. On this website we have a fairly complete database available, which gives us access to the different international patent applications carried out within the scope of the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treatys).

International patent database

At the national level we have Spanish office of the patents and brand (OPEM). Thanks to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of Spain on its website hosts a locator named Young (the name is not the best), which gives us the option to search for patents, utility models and Ibero-American designs. In addition to other search engines related to the subject, such as Google Patents, LatinPat, WipoInspire...

patent search engines

We continue with spacenet, which is a Free advanced worldwide patent search service. We can also find it on the EPO portal, or what is the same, the European Patent Office.

Alternatives to the Patent

As we have seen so far, the task of patenting an application is practically impossible, unless your idea is extremely innovative, incorporates technology never seen before and all the planets align. But don't despair There are always ways to protect our creation or idea against possible plagiarism.

The first option we mention is the “Copyright” option. As stated in article 1 of the Intellectual Property Law:

«The intellectual property of a literary, artistic or scientific work corresponds to the author by the sole fact of its creation.«.

So the first thing you should do is go to the Registry of Intellectual Property of your locality, remember that in your Autonomous Community there is a Territorial Registry. Once there you must complete the specific form for computer programs. In this way, the authorship of your application will be recorded.

Another option that we indicate here is to register a trademark. Thanks to this you will be able to develop that project you are working on. As we have already seen, applications, software or ideas cannot be officially registered or patented, but we can do so with the trademark.

Trademarks and registrations

It's time to come up with a logo and name that makes it clear whose job it is. If you look at the Google Play Store you will see that any application reflects that it is developed by a brand. For example the Stamble Guys app was created and developed by Kitka Games.

If you still want to give your idea, software or application more security, you can carry out different actions such as register online through Safe Creative o Creative Commons depending on the license that we want to give it, and also attest to it before a notary and deposit it to record the authorship of it.

In short, do not despair and if you have invested time and effort in making an application, always protect it in the best possible way.


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