Patenting App Idea

[elenaunknown]

Jurisdiction

Delaware

Good Afternoon,
The situation is the following: I have a software app idea that I am quite sure has no other competitors yet. I know the target audience and think that it could be beneficial to a potential market and a big success. I have started creating a prototype for the app (I am related to a software development field), however caught myself doubting about the further course of actions. I have thought that my project can take two turns - first, present the project for sale to a big company; second - in the event of the first option failure, finish app development and put it in the market myself.
My question is mostly about the first option - selling the project. Should I continue building the app and then patent it and present for sale or can I patent just the idea and still sell it?
Another question that comes to mind is that I would like to speak to a licensed attorney about the case, but I don't want to disclose my app idea to them to prevent it from being leaked. Is it a good practice to ask an attorney if they are willing to sign an NDA? And if yes, do I create NDA myself or is it a certain document that can be obtained from somewhere?
Thank you for the advice in advance!

 

[zddoodah]

can I patent just the idea and still sell it?

Yes. The first part of this question can only be properly answered by a patent attorney with whom you have consulted and to whom you have fully disclosed what this is all about.

Another question that comes to mind is that I would like to speak to a licensed attorney about the case, but I don't want to disclose my app idea to them to prevent it from being leaked. Is it a good practice to ask an attorney if they are willing to sign an NDA?

Attorneys are bound by legal duties that, in a case like this, are at least as good as any NDA. An attorney can breach an NDA as easily as he/she can violate the duty of confidentiality. Most attorneys, of course, are honest and won't do either. My point is that having an NDA on top of the existing legal duties will get you nothing.

 

[flyingron]

Zd gives good information. Having an app that nobody else has done and doesn't have any competitors doesn't necessarily make it patentable. There needs to be some novel and non-obvious.invention here. For example, just because nobody wrote an app to allow you to order manure delivered to your garden doesn't make it patentable.

Note carefully the novel part. If you tell *anybody* or put the invention on the market, it ceases to be patentable. If you believe it is patentable, you need to get at least a provisional patent filed before you reach out to anybody (but a patent attorney). That gives you a year to file the actual non-provisional patent but allows you to work with others on it.

 

[elenaunknown]

@zddoodah thank you for the reply!

@flyingron what criteria is used to determine if an app features a novel and non-obvious invention? For example, Uber or Lift were the first apps that gave a possibility of ordering a ride, overlapping a regular taxi. TikTok's main feature is to scroll through videos, overlapping YouTube. Door Dash or Grubhub could be in conflict with regular restaurants' delivery services. Snapchat's standout feature is disappearing messages which doesn't even make any sense to me. Aren't any of these apps hold some sort of patents? I am apologizing if I am getting it all wrong, would be grateful if you could help me direct my thoughts in the right direction... thank you!

 

[flyingron]

None of Uber's patents cover directly the concept of having a ride hailing app. They cover some of the underlying technology that makes that useful, much of it involves the driverless technology that they're basing their long-term viability on. Others deal with the various routing and pricing computation stuff.

Similarly, TikTok doesn't have a patent on sharing videos. They have one on certain features they offer like the syncing of multiple videos which, they have had a hard time defending anyhow.

You seem to misunderstand what a patent is all about. It's not a "I'm the first to do something so nobody else can do it." It's the "i've discovered how to do something that nobody else has before and it wasn't obvious." I'm not going to write a book about patents here.

I suggest you avail yourself of some of the free education USPTO offers:
Learning and resources

If you really think you have something patentable, you need a patent attorney. While technically you can craft a patent application yourself, the penalty for getting it wrong (permanently losing the right to patent the invention) is pretty severe and it's easy to get things wrong.

 

[elenaunknown]

@flyingron I appreciate your response! I am certainly agreeing with you that I don't have a clear understanding of how patenting work as being pretty far away from laws knowledge in general. I will definitely look at the resources you have posted the link for.
Meanwhile, do you reckon this would be still a good idea to consult with an attorney so they can determine if my idea is patentable and guide me in terms of what steps to take?

 

[adjusterjack]

Meanwhile, do you reckon this would be still a good idea to consult with an attorney so they can determine if my idea is patentable and guide me in terms of what steps to take?

The answer to that has been made abundantly clear.

It's YES.

Call up patent attorneys tomorrow and make an appointment for a consult.