Intellectual Property and Mobile Applications
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Intellectual Property and Mobile Applications TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ............................................................................................................. 7 PART I – OVERVIEW OF THE INDUSTRY AND ITS LEGAL ECOSYSTEM ............ 8 Overview of the sector ................................................................................ 8 The IP legal ecosystem: nature, scope, complexity and cost ....................... 8 Copyright .................................................................................................... 9 Patents ...................................................................................................... 11 Trade dress under trademarks and unfair competition laws ...................... 14 Designs ..................................................................................................... 16 Trade secrets ............................................................................................ 16 A brief overview of the legal system for mobile applications ...................... 17 Copyright .................................................................................................. 17 Patents ...................................................................................................... 18 Utility models ............................................................................................. 19 Trade dress under trademarks and unfair competition laws ...................... 19 Designs ..................................................................................................... 20 Trade secrets ............................................................................................ 21 PART II - Protectability of code and architecture – legal and business issues ......... 22 The production of software: content, context and development models ..... 22 Scope of protection of software’s internal organs under various IPR regimes and its business impact: ...................................................................................... 22 Code and architecture ............................................................................... 22 Decompilation and interoperability ............................................................ 26 The cloud effect ........................................................................................ 34 Summary – protectability of code and architecture – legal and business issues .................................................................................................................. 34 Protection of software’s internal organs via IPR regimes ........................... 35 Decompilation and interoperability ............................................................ 35 The cloud effect ........................................................................................ 38 4 PART III - USER EXPERIENCE - PROTECTING INTERFACES: LEGAL AND BUSINESS ASPECTS ............................................................................................ 39 Graphical User Interfaces .......................................................................... 39 IPRs and mobile apps – scope of protection and impact ........................... 39 Copyright .................................................................................................. 40 Designs ..................................................................................................... 42 Trademarks and unfair competition ........................................................... 44 Patents ...................................................................................................... 47 Summary – protecting interfaces: legal and business aspects................... 48 Copyright .................................................................................................. 48 Designs ..................................................................................................... 49 Trademarks and unfair competition for GUIs ............................................. 50 Patents ...................................................................................................... 51 PART IV - FUNCTIONALITY ................................................................................... 52 Introduction ............................................................................................... 52 Protecting functionality under copyright law............................................... 53 Functionality and the idea/expression dichotomy ...................................... 53 The merger doctrine .................................................................................. 54 Judicial attitudes and interpretation ........................................................... 54 Protecting functionality under patent law ................................................... 55 Protecting functionality under laws against unfair competition ................... 55 Summary: practical implications and factors for consideration ................... 56 Protecting functionality – implications for mobile applications .................... 57 Protecting functionality under copyright law............................................... 57 Protecting functionality under patent law ................................................... 57 Protecting functionality under unfair competition law ................................. 57 PART V - NON-IP LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS ...................................................... 59 Introduction ............................................................................................... 59 End user licence agreements .................................................................... 59 Data protection and mobile applications .................................................... 60 Privacy ...................................................................................................... 61 Consumer protection ................................................................................. 62 Advertising ................................................................................................ 63 Digital rights management and technical protection measures .................. 64 App developer agreements – some common clauses ............................... 65 Licence granted under the agreement ....................................................... 66 Amendments to the agreements ............................................................... 66 Termination of the agreement ................................................................... 67 5 Limitation of liability ................................................................................... 67 Disclaimer of warranty ............................................................................... 68 Governing laws of the agreements ............................................................ 68 Summary ...................................................................................................... 69 Contract law – EULAs ............................................................................... 69 Data protection .......................................................................................... 69 Privacy ...................................................................................................... 70 Consumer protection ................................................................................. 70 Advertising ................................................................................................ 71 Digital rights management and technical protection measures .................. 71 App developer agreements – some common clauses ............................... 72 PART VI - GLOBAL CHALLENGES ........................................................................ 74 Copying and emulation risk mapping......................................................... 74 Code ......................................................................................................... 74 Internal architecture .................................................................................. 75 User interfaces .......................................................................................... 76 Logic and behavioural aspects .................................................................. 77 Summary .................................................................................................. 78 About the Author ..................................................................................................... 79 AcknowledgementS................................................................................................. 79 6 FOREWORD In recent years, there has been an enormous interest in making a living in the various creative industries spawned by the digital environment. Mobile applications have become an indispensable part of daily life in the digital world and the mobile app economy has grown exponentially, driven by a huge community of software developers; indeed, one in eight developers is involved in designing the multitude of mobile apps consumed by millions of people and businesses worldwide. This new publication of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), released as part of the series Making a Living in the Creative Industries, is intended to fill a gap in an area that has no existing WIPO material. It is designed as a tool for app developers and publishers who have not yet given due consideration to all the intellectual property