A Complete Guide On How To Patent An App Idea In 2025 App Development

What Does it Mean to Patent an App Idea?

Imagine you’ve put forward an innovative mobile app idea that has the power to transform the internet and bring real value to society. The credit for this innovative idea goes entirely to you because you put your heart and soul into it. However, there is a serious risk that someone else, who is not aware of your idea, will develop the software first and steal all the recognition and credit that you believe you owe. This is when intellectual property law comes into play, and patents become crucial.

A patent makes sure that no one else can legally replicate or steal your idea. Before beginning the app development process, it’s important to understand the significance of securing a patent for your mobile app. To demonstrate the increasing significance of securing creative ideas, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) noted approximately 812,675 patent applications during 2024, underlining how crucial it is to understand how to patent an app idea as in today’s competitive industry, not only secures you from potential competitors but also offers a suite of other benefits to entrepreneurs and startups.

What are the Different Types of Patent Applications?

• Provisional Application

A provisional Patent Application is the most common type of mobile app patent. Usually, it is always the initial approach that most of the app development companies utilize when starting a patent process.

With the provisional application, you can file without even a formal patent claim, statement, or any information disclosure statement. Here are a few of the advantages a Provisional Application offers:

• It allows 12 months to fully develop and refine the MVP.
• Enables you to employ the term “patent pending” on the product.
• It is more affordable to prepare and file the application than a non-provisional patent.
• It enables the filing of International applications and asserting importance within 12 months.

• Non-Provisional Application

When it comes to a non-provisional app for the patent, it can be filed with no claim of any priority of application made in an agreed upon country or without any reference to the app that is at present in the process in the office is known as a non-provisional app.

It is necessary that it is attended by a complete specification and claims. A non-provisional patent application must include details like a written description of the invention and at least one claim that legally outlines the metes and bounds of the invention.

• If you are not sure which one to select, you need to ask yourself these questions.
• How fast do you want your patent settled?
• For how long are you preparing to interrupt patent examination costs? 

An experienced software patent attorney can answer all of your questions regarding how to patent an app idea and assist you in regulating whether patent protection is precise for you or not. For the patent application process, you can even get help from an attorney. Getting a guard on the patents in novel and non-apparent inventions is crucial for keeping others away from pocketing your idea.

• Convention Application

A convention application is filed for claiming a priority date as per the similar or considerably similar application filed in any of the convention countries. To earn a status of convention, an applicant is needed to file an application in the Indian Patent Office within a year from the date of the original filing of a similar application in the convention country. Applicants are allowed to claim priority in all the convention countries by a convention application, known as replicating in easier terms.

• PCT International Application

As can be decoded from its name, a PCT Application is an international application. Though the application does not offer access to an international patent, it leads the way for a simplified patent application process in several countries in one go. It is ruled by the Patent Corporation Treaty and can be legalized in up to 142 countries. Filing this application would prevent an invention from being imitated in these selected countries. Unlike other applications, it reduces the application to a time frame of 30-31 months to enter into numerous countries from the international filing date or the priority date, thus affording the applicant extra time to assess the feasibility of the invention. Other than this, it provides the following other advantages:

• The application offers an International Search Report citing prior art, which reveals whether or not the invention is fresh.
• It gives an option for demanding an International Preliminary Examination Report, a report that comprises a choice of the patentability of the invention.
• The above-mentioned reports enable the applicant to make more informed choices initially in the patent process, as he/she can adjust the application to deal with any contradictory material. Also, the applicant would have a look at the patentability of the invention before earning charges for filing and indicating the application in every country.

For instance, an applicant from India can file this application at:

• The Indian Patent Office (IPO), which acts as the receiving office.
• The International Bureau of WIPO, either after getting a foreign filing permit from IPO or after six weeks and 12 months of filing an application in India.

• PCT National Phase Application

It is considered crucial for an applicant to file a national phase application in every country where protection is required. The time frame for filing the same is scheduled within 31 months from the primary date or the international filing date, whichever is former. The time limit can be improved through National Laws by every member country. Concerning the National Phase Application, the title, description, abstract, and claims filed in the International Application under PCT will be measured as the Complete Specification. Besides, the regulations that are valid for filing and processing an ordinary patent application are also practical here.

• Patent of Addition

This application must be filed if the applicant learns that he has come across an invention that has even slightly modified the invention that has already been applied for or patented by the applicant. It can only be filed if the invention doesn’t incorporate a substantial inventive step. A patent of addition can only be allowed after access to the parent patent, and hence, no individual renewal fee should be forwarded during the period of the main patent. Furthermore, it will be granted for a term equivalent to that of the patent for the main invention and, therefore, terminates along with the main patent. The date of filing here will be similar to the date on which the application for patent of addition has been filed.

• Divisional Application

An applicant might select to distribute an application and secure two or more applications if a specific application claims for more than one invention. The priority date for these applications is parallel to that of the parent application. 

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How to Patent an App Idea in 7 Steps?

Here are the basic steps that must be followed to understand how to patent an app idea:

Step 1: Choose the Patent Type You Want to Register for Your App

You have your mobile app idea, but you can file patents for various parts of your mobile app. If you see, essentially, there are two types of patents you can file for your mobile app idea:

• Utility Patents

Primarily, a utility patent emphasizes securing the functionalities of your inventions, such as unique processes, mechanics, improvements, and technicalities. In the precise area of mobile apps, you can file utility patents for exclusive aspects, such as algorithms, processes, features and functionalities, data structures, hardware integrations, etc.

• Design Patents

The individuality of mobile app UI/UX design and logo design is also qualified for a patent to secure the visual presence of an invention.

Step 2: Conduct Extensive Mobile App Patent Research

Determining to patent your exclusive invention is a big decision you have taken. It needs tons of research work to find parallel patents registered, learn about filing them, and do more related to the same.

Step 3: Discover and Register with a Patent Lawyer

To present a precisely made top-quality patent and maximize the scope of your patent application getting selected, you need to check with and hire a patent lawyer who deals with software patenting.

As it’s a legal procedure, it might include litigation. Thus, it’s advised to go with an analytical approach to hire a professional to handle this legal matter.

Step 4: Prepare Documentation to File Your Mobile App Patent

After approving the admissibility of your mobile app patent idea, you can start preparing patent filing documentation.

Although it’s a monotonous procedure requiring lots of paperwork, you must explore it. Your patent application should incorporate the following:

• Specification
• Declaration of your invention or Oath
• Data Disclosure Statement
• Entity Status Form
• Claims
• Application Data Sheet
• Drawings
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (Optional and for International Filings)
• Cover Sheet
• Fee Sheet
• Application to Make Special (Optional)

Step 5: File a Provisional or Non-Provisional Patent Application

It is the most important decision you must make to meet your needs. If you want some defence time to work on your invention and are prepared to spend an extra penny, you must go for provisional patent protection.

In other situations, if you are self-assured regarding your invention and have everything ready with you, you must opt for a non-provisional patent.

As you’ve read regarding both patent applications above, you might be clear regarding the type you want to choose. You might have to opt for more than one round of trials to get your patent application approval, but both have their own bonuses.

For the patent fees structure, you can check the website of the regional patent offices for the country you want to secure your invention.

Step 6: Respond to Patent Officer’s Comments If Any

After filing your patent application, you’ll have to check its progress often and see if any actions have been taken. Occasionally, when revising your patent application, examiners might ask for more clarification or variations regarding the provided invention details.

To put an optimistic impression on your intention to approve this patent, you must be proactive to respond to such requests.

Step 7: Pay Patent Maintenance Fees Regularly

After your patent approval, you have to preserve your patent and pay its monthly or annual fees to continue its result. Keeping a patent can be intricate and time-consuming. Hence, it is suitable to hire a professional to handle patents.

What are the eligibility criteria for Qualifying for a patent?

When you ultimately decide on the decision to patent your mobile app idea and get validation that you can do so, you surely want to learn more about the eligibility criteria. Now, let’s observe the needs to qualify your mobile application idea for a patent:

• It Must Be Creative

Patents are utilized for securing inventions. As per WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), they are offered with an invention that is clarified as a solution to every concern.

Since the mobile app idea is not a physical thing, the mobile app development process is categorized as an invention. Nevertheless, the procedure should fix every issue simply like any invention.

• The App Idea Ought to be New and Unique

Even if your mobile app idea fixes users’ concerns, it doesn’t mean it succeeds as a patent. Your application idea must be original and fresh.

Your mobile app idea should not have been introduced earlier, including YouTube videos, books, articles, pending patent apps, and other sources. It should be exclusive and must not occur in any term else you cannot patent it.

• It Should Be Considered As Useful

Being qualified as a valuable app does not infer that your application idea cannot fall under the entertainment class or something else like that. Your app just needs to be accomplished, at least in theory. This limit stops people from patenting these apps that are not beneficial.

Hence, you must craft a comprehensive and tangible description of how your app accomplishes claiming it as your asset.

Can You Patent Your Mobile App Idea?

You can patent your apps as well as your app ideas, with the only condition being to meet the eligibility criteria of innovation. Please note that since the app falls under the category of law protection by copyrights, its code cannot be patented. However, on the upside, you can patent the app’s practice as it relates to executing a particular task. You can evaluate that by asking a few queries, such as:

1.       What’s new in it?
2.       Is it not clear?
3.       Is there technical assistance and implementation for your idea?
4.       Does your concept fall under the list of patent mobile app ideas?

Your mobile app idea might be eligible for a patent if your overall response is yes. Additionally, for improved data collection and decision-making, mobile apps also support sensors built into a mobile device. Thus, each of them satisfies mobile app concepts for patent protection.

Types of Mobile App Ideas You Can Patent

When considering patenting a mobile app idea, you must understand that not every novel idea is eligible for patent protection. Hence, let’s discover mobile app ideas eligible for patent:

• Mobile Gaming Apps

If your mobile game contains innovative gaming concepts, styles, and mechanics, as no one has ever done, you can be eligible for the patent.

• AR/VR-based Apps

AR/VR technology in mobile app development has laid its presenter in the digital world with an evolving effect. So, AR/VR games with new methods of overlapping and networking with digital content and inventive ways of submerging users into their world can be eligible for patents.

• Healthcare Apps

When it comes to healthcare and medical apps, you must be very creative while making sure of their practicality and the superior good they can bring to the healthcare world.

• IoT Apps

Your IoT mobile App and embedded app that provides advanced controls, monitoring, data collecting, processing, or any other thing that can bring the up-to-date kind of integrated IoT system to life automating and helping in our tasks.

• Social Networking Apps

Right now, we can see many social media apps around us, and we’ve seen the hot debate around Threads Vs. Twitter – a conversation social media app, due to sharing many similarities in the concept. And if you have a unique social networking app idea that you don’t want anyone to copy and become the next social media giant firm, then patenting can be a good and eligible idea.

• Enterprise Apps

It is the most crucial type of personalized mobile app on which your whole enterprise relies on. You have cracked an amazing mobile app solution that can enhance the productivity of your enterprise and help you automate several of your routine tasks.

You certainly don’t want this idea to be derivative of any other competitor. So, patenting is the best way to secure your productivity and enterprise app.

• Education and Learning Apps

It’s crucial to note that not all eLearning mobile apps are eligible for patent protection. An eLearning app idea that comprises basic details and gamification elements cannot be reflected as an ideal fit for the patent. It should have exclusive approaches and elements to demonstrate something to users who need to be eligible for patent safety.

Why Should You Patent an App Idea?

Patenting your mobile app and mobile app ideas brings several advantages for you, which incorporate:

• Competitive Advantage

Innovation is an inheritor of creativity – often measured as a success featured in the app industry. And your patent protection for that improvement, which we know as the invention, provides you the competitive advantage of being the first to bring it to life. It will also assist you to get it imitated by competitors and bring it into the market before you.

It all begins with an idea, considering it praiseworthy for the patent, and then lastly filing for the patent – starting the journey by demanding a provisional patent with the tag “patent pending.”

• Digital Asset Protection

You can secure your digital asset with a provisional patent even if it’s still in a growth period. Once you get the concluding patent protection, you can get perks like compensation for compensations, complaints, violations, and more.

• Market Facilities

With your patented mobile app, you can set it contrarily from your competitors and begin a unique selling proposition. Using this chance, you can appeal to investors, partners, and even customers, to try out your services.

• Licensing Opportunity

With patent protection, you can even license it under companies’ or individuals’ names. It enables them to use your mobile app idea in return for licensing fees or royalties. So, you can use this licensing possibility to increase your revenue stream.

How to Check Whether Your App Idea Has Already Been Patented or Not?

After reviewing the eligibility requirements and advantages of getting a patent, it’s time to figure out whether your mobile app idea is original. You begin your search for the registered patent by:

• Analyzing Patent Database

There are four bigger patent approval organizations whose databases you can go and check for existing patents. And those organizations are:

• Google Patents
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
• United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• European Patent Office (EPO)

• Keyword Search

Here, you have to explain your mobile app idea clearly using the proper keywords. For instance, “AI-powered Hotel Management Software” is your software idea for the hotel units.

Your search keyword can incorporate specific features, functions, and technologies that define your mobile app to the finest.

• Classifications and Categories

You might or might not find this feature in every patent search directory. But if it’s accessible, it helps to limit your search to a great amount to easily get the search results you were seeking.

• Boolean Operators

A few directories, such as USPTO, have stated this feature as a default operator. It incorporates AND, OR, NOT, ADJ, NEAR, SAME, and WITH to filter out your search results.

• Publication Dates

When you get the search results, you can look for published dates of settled patents and published patent applications. It will assist you in recognizing patents with unresolved approvals.

• Consult with an Expert

If you are new to this patent filing field, and you may search for new and interesting things to implement, then you can get help from your mobile app developers and patent advocates.

When Should You File Patent Application for Your Mobile App Idea?

The sooner you file your patent to secure your idea, the more possibilities you have to claim it. So, when you have:

• A 100% exclusive app idea that is nearly implemented and prepared to launch.
• Enough funds are assigned for IP (Intellectual Property) protection.
• Or prototype and app development team onboard to begin with the MVP development.

Now, consider the right time for the patent application.

When Should You Not Patent Your Mobile App Idea?

Now you know that app ideas that are creative, exclusive, valuable, and overall eligible for making patent applications. But do you know the wrong time to evade filing for the patent?

Here are a few situations that are worth taking gap and escaping the risk of filing your patent application:

• When your app idea pleases all conditions for patent value, it is executed using open-source code.
• When your app is not entirely exclusive but takes an existing app idea to its next version.
• When your invention caters to all conditions for patent eligibility you have a restrictive budget for additional app testing, marketing, and patent maintenance.

In such circumstances, you must avoid filing a patent for your mobile app or app idea.

How Much Does It Cost to Patent a Mobile App?

The cost of patenting a mobile app varies based on several factors, including patent type, the complexity of the invention, the geographic scope of protection, attorney fees, patent office fees, patent search and preceding art analysis, maintenance, and more.

Besides, your patent fees are dispersed into categories, like:

• Application filing;
• Patent search;
• Patent examination;
• Issue and publication;
• Patent maintenance;
• Miscellaneous;
• Post-issuance;
• Patent Trial and appeal;
• Patent petition;
• Patent service fees;
• Patent enrollment, and a lot more.

Considering all these, you can say that your provisional patent application can cost somewhere around $2000 to $5000. Instead, a non-provisional patent can cost you somewhere around $10,000 to $15,000.

Henceforward, an admin entity evaluates your patent application for some years to see whether it gives access to a patent or not.

Why is Patenting Not for Every App Owner?

Patenting mobile apps might not be a great option for every app owner due to the following reasons:

• Cost and Time Demanding

Every process linked with the patent, whether it is searching, organizing documentation, filing, examining, or any other one, can be extensive and time-consuming, leading to cost intensiveness. Due to the block on these significant resources, time, and cost, no one can afford it.

• Uncertainty

Even after paying that much for using a patent lawyer, patent documentation, filing, and other charges, there’s still no assurance that your application will be accepted or not.

• Disclosure

When you file your patent application, your mobile app idea turns into a public record. And with it, your competitor can access your idea and apply such, though it’s not settled.

• Enforcement Challenges

Even after claiming a patent, it can be challenging and costly to impose. Due to intricate and time-consuming patent infringement lawsuits, the app owner selecting the similar path struggles to implement their patent rights contradictory to third parties.

What Are the Alternatives to App Patents?

App patents provide great benefits to you as an app owner, but there are other alternatives as well, offering the same level of protection, including:

• Copyright

Copyright protection is a type of IPR. It secures original work of ownership, counting art, literary, musical, computer programs, and other creative content. Once you claim the copyright of your app idea, code, and graphical elements, you can inhibit others from copying, dispensing, or recreating your app without consent.

But note that it only protects the process behind the idea. So, in the case of the mobile app, you can claim copyright for the app idea and logo but not for the whole app because your app does not cover ideas, facts, operational approaches, or systems.

• Trademark

While patents stop others from marketing or replicating your invention, a trademark secures app content, logos, icons, and other sources of inventors from others utilizing it, which can complicate consumers.

• Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA)

An NDA is a kind of IPR agreement that you can create and make your mobile app development partner sign, preventing them from exposing your identity and unveiling any project-related details. Briefly, an NDA legally binds your associates to keep your project details confidential and protect them from copycats.

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Recent Mobile App Patent Examples

• Apple’s Patents: Redefining User Experience

Apple frequently innovates to improve user experience, with its mobile app patents standing out exclusive features that set new industry standards. These patents emphasize crafting intuitive, smooth, and engaging experiences, delivering valuable insights for businesses.

• Dynamic Interface Adjustments

Apple’s patent for dynamic interface alterations modifies app displays based on user context, i.e., adapting brightness or streamlining interfaces in diverse environments. This improves usability and personalization, particularly for apps in navigation, fitness, and social media.

• Augmented Reality Integration

With AR, Apple is surpassing the limits by offering interactive experiences, which include the ability to visualize furniture in real-life settings. This way it enhances user engagement in apps related to shopping, gaming, and education, while helping businesses make unforgettable, immersive experiences.

• Enhanced Security with Biometric Data

Apple’s biometric patents unite face and voice recognition for multi-layered authentication, setting a high standard in safety. Businesses can approve these features to ensure user data protection while enhancing trust, particularly in sensitive industries of finance and healthcare.

• Intelligent Automation for Simplified User Flow

Apple’s automation patents simplify app processes by learning user behaviour and decreasing repetitive tasks, maximizing efficiency and personalization. Also, it offers streamlined experiences in e-commerce and fitness apps, along with offering a competitive edge in the market.

• Voice Command and NLP Integration

With natural language processing and voice command patents, Apple improves hands-free navigation. By including similar features, businesses can enhance app convenience and user-friendliness, specifically in travel, productivity, and accessibility-attentive apps.

• Haptic Feedback for Engagement

The use of diverse haptic feedback by Apple adds a tangible element to connections that help improve the user engagement. By implementing similar features, businesses can enhance their app experiences in navigation, gaming, and more, while forming immersive, sensory-rich user interactions. 

With advanced patents offering valuable lessons in user experience, security, and functionality Apple helps businesses improve their apps and secure unique features in the dynamic competitive market.

• Google’s Patents: Advancing Machine Learning and AI in Apps

Google is enhancing the intelligence, responsiveness, and personalisation of mobile applications by integrating the most advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning technology. AI can improve user experience, speed up communication, and increase engagement, as demonstrated by their most recent patents.

• Predictive Analytics for Personalization

Google’s AI-powered predictive analytics allow apps to suggest content based on user likings and behaviors, forming intensely personalized experiences, driving user retention by providing tailored recommendations.

• Adaptive Learning for Real-Time Adjustments

Adaptive learning models allow apps to regulate based on user conduct, vigorously tailoring the interface or content. This decreases friction and improves satisfaction by answering each user’s requirements in real time.

• Image and Object Recognition

Apps can interact with the real world by using Google’s image recognition technology to identify landmarks or scan objects for further information. In the tourism and retail sectors, this produces engaging, interactive experiences.

• Automated Sentiment Analysis

Businesses can modify content or improve features based on user sentiment and proactively strengthen user relationships by using AI-driven sentiment analysis. This technology enables apps to assess user sentiments through reviews and feedback.

• Intelligent Data Compression

Google’s data compression technology utilizes AI to reduce data usage without losing performance, enhancing app performance even on slower networks or lower-end devices, which is considered important for apps in data-sensitive markets.

• Contextual AI for In-Depth User Understanding

Apps can now serve content depending on user signals like location or time of day thanks to contextual AI, which makes them feel more personalized and intuitive while also providing more timely and relevant recommendations.

Businesses seeking to enhance app skills and make them stand out in the ever-changing market by providing intelligent and adaptable user experiences can benefit from Google’s concentration on learning AI and ML technologies.

•  Samsung’s Patents: Enhancing Mobile Interactivity and Multitasking

Samsung has been leading the mobile innovation, by emphasizing on enhancing interactivity and multitasking. Its latest patents highlight improvements that improve user experience, productivity, and device functionality.

• App Continuity and Cross-Device Functionality

Samsung’s patents allow users to begin tasks on one device and smoothly continue on another, ensuring that progress is kept throughout devices. This cross-device functionality assists users who regularly switch between devices for work or personal tasks.

• Enhanced Split-Screen and Multi-Window Interactivity

Samsung’s improved multitasking features allow users to adjust the size and collaborate with multiple windows on the same screen, maximizing productivity and making mobile devices more adaptable by backing up drag-and-drop features and multi-app use.

• Touchless Gesture Controls

Samsung’s touchless gesture controls let users connect with their devices employing hand motions, making apps more available, specifically in hands-free settings. This feature highlights ease and adaptability in user interactions.

• Adaptive Interface Elements

Samsung’s adaptive interface patent enthusiastically adjusts app layout relying on user behaviour, streamlining navigation. This personalization improves user experience by making features that are often used more available.

• Multitasking on Foldable Devices

Samsung’s patents for foldable devices emphasize increasing screen real estate for multitasking. These innovations enhance productivity by letting users view and network over multiple apps on a bigger, flexible screen.

• Secure Data Sharing and Collaboration

Samsung has patented, protected methods for sharing content throughout apps, ensuring that crucial data is encrypted and secured. This feature is mainly valuable for business and productivity apps, which require safe information transfer.

Samsung’s focus on multitasking, adaptability, and security sets the step for a more collaborative, tailored, and safe mobile experience, providing valuable lessons for businesses in app development.

If you’re thinking of patenting mobile apps in 2025, then following the proper steps can be overpowering. However, with the right direction and approach, you can likely secure your intellectual property and bring your app idea to life entirely. If you have any queries regarding the process, app development, or costs involved, feel free to reach out to Progatix, a leading software development company. By completing a number of successful app projects, we can guide you through every step of your way—from turning your idea into a functional app to assisting you navigate the patenting process.

How can Progatix help?

Patenting an app idea requires effort and commitment. However, if you’re self-assured in your idea and have faith it has the power to become a revolutionary invention, acquiring a patent is an important step. While the process might seem complex, it’s far less perplexing than dealing with cloned apps that invade your business or facing legal fights over patent harms.

Progatix knows how important it is to protect your intellectual property. Get help for app patent research as well as setting the required documents. Also, we can guide you throughout the whole process, secure your app idea, and provide comprehensive mobile app development services. Allow us to secure your creative creation and assist you in turning your idea into a reality.

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Author: Amna Shahid

Amna Shahid, a technical content writer, is an expert in simplifying intricate notions and composing captivating narratives to participate and convey technical information efficiently. With a devotion to brilliance in this dynamic technical writing field, Amna is open to collaborating and new possibilities in this succeeding tech realm.

Reviewed By: Progatix

Progatix, a well-known software development company, has been delivering innovative digital consultancy services & custom software solutions encouraging business growth since 2003. Our remarkable solutions involve strategic digital consultancy, legacy system migration, DevOps, and stellar testing services.