How to Protect your App Idea Legally and Ideally

When you surf the internet as to how can I protect my App idea, the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) are flooded with legal terms like Non Disclosure Agreement, Copyright, Trademark and other such legal procedures and terminologies. But when you read through these articles, what you find is that all these Legal procedures protect you once you launch your App and not your App idea. And even after launch, you will find that there are many visible loopholes through which the individual/entity can escape from the charges.

So, let’s cut to the chase and accept that while these Legal aspects may provide some protection to your app, at least your App “idea” cannot be protected legally. When such are the circumstances, it is essential that you protect your idea by sharing protectively and endorsing it to a trustworthy Technology Partner for development.

To establish optimum protection of your idea, there are basically two phases that need to be taken into consideration. The first phase is “when you discuss your App idea with potential Technology Agencies” and the second phase is “when your app is under development”. In this blog, we will discuss what an individual can do to protect their App idea in both these phases.

Protection of App idea “when you discuss your App idea with potential Technology Agencies”:

Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA):

It is not known to many, but the NDA can also be signed to protect the conversations and details during a certain meetings. The NDA can be in a form that if a person breaches the contract and leaks the information of the meeting to any other entity other than the ones who are authorised in the contract, then a certain amount can be charged from them.

These kinds of agreements can be sent to Technology Service Providers and get them signed from them before you discuss your app idea with them. With such agreements, you cannot ensure that the idea is not leaked to other entities, but in case they do leak your App Idea, you can take legal actions and get fair compensation for the same.

Deal with registered Technology Service Providers:

Instead of dealing with individuals who have no registered firm or legal existence of their firms, it is better to deal with Technology Service Providers that have a legal entity. Not only can you easily tract these agencies, these agencies and service providers also have a reputation in the market and to protect their client’s sensitive data they have stringent policies and processes established.

Trademark your Brand name:

Just the way registered Technology Service providers are better to deal with, when you trademark your brand’s name and its taglines. When you do that, you can have a physical proof of your firm’s establishment and thus, all the meetings and timelines can be easily tracked and identified through documentation when you file a dispute with the Technology Service Provider.

Protection of App Idea “when your app is under development”:

While the above phase has better legal ways of protecting your App idea, when you have to choose an ideal Technology Partner for your firm, it is essential that you make an informed decision rather than only thinking from the legal protection perspective. For instance, a Technology Service provider who has a good reputation in the market and a proven track record will have more credibility and better infrastructure to protect your data rather than an unrecognised firm.

But, the question is how do you determine whether the Technology Service provider of your choice is recognised and ideal for your app development or not? To help you with that, here are a few things that you can do to ascertain the performance and credibility of any Technology Service Provider:

Company Portfolio and Domain Experience:

When you approach a Technology Service Provider, it is essential that you ask for their company portfolio and their prior domain experience. When you receive the file, you can also reach out to their old clients and determine how the Technology Service Provider performed during the project. With this practice you not only can determine whether the Technology Service Provider does what they claim, but you can also take their help in perfecting your idea as they have prior experience.

Inquire about their Data Protection policies:

When you work with an established Technology Service provider, they themselves will reveal their Data Protection policies and will also share their readiness to sign NDA and IPR for data protection. Apart from that, such Technology Service Providers also train their resources and have transparent yet encrypted communication channels established so that you can stay in the loop of development and you can also fairly protect your data. Apart from that, when there is an IPR in question, the source code and the ownership of the ideas remain with you.

Review their portfolios and client testimonials on Review Websites:

There are many renowned review and research firms like GoodFirms, Clutch, TopDevelopers who provides detailed reviews and research data about Technology Service Providers, and they also have stringent verification protocols established. Thus, when you are to make a decision regarding who will be the Technology Partner who transforms your idea into a profitable Technology Solution, it is essential that you check their reviews on such review platforms.

Value-Based Partnerships:

Technology Domain has tough competition currently and many are offering Value-Based partnership options where they formulate customer-centric policies and approaches to attract clients. When a Technology service provider has such protocols and approaches established, you can rest assured that not only will you get the best technical services, but you will also get services that go beyond Technical Expertise and all the resources indulged in your project will walk an extra mile to help you attain your set goals and targets with your app.

Thus, while there are not many legal aspects to explore when it comes to protecting your App’s idea, but when you take an informed decision by ensuring that the Technology Service Provider whom you outsource your App Development work passes all the criteria that are mentioned above, you can establish a relationship where you App Idea is protected with optimum policies and processes.

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