At INNO Legal Ltd., we prepare all necessary documents for the development, use, marketing, and data security of applications. We also provide advice and participate in negotiation processes, whether you are a software developer or a company that will hire a developer for application development.
From Development to Commercialization of Mobile Applications
In a world where mobile phones are indispensable, applications are a fundamental pillar of communication. They are also a significant legal challenge for providers who must regulate the status of applications in the market and convince users of their safety. For this purpose, we have prepared three fundamental documents that govern the use, marketing, and data security of applications.
Since the establishment of Apple Inc.’s App Store in 2008, mobile applications have dominated the digital economy and surpassed the demand for desktop applications. As of 2021, the App Store and Google Play Store offer more than 5 million applications. In China, where Google’s services are banned and Apple has less influence, Huawei, Oppo, and Tencent have created a profitable business, accounting for half of the Chinese market share. The mobile application market is expected to grow by $653.91 billion from 2022 to 2025, making it crucial for mobile application developers and companies that collaborate with them to secure their business.
Developing mobile applications is an important means for creating numerous business opportunities and the possibility to create new and extremely important intellectual property. For a safe and successful development of mobile applications, developers must consider numerous legal aspects.
The first step to successful development and launching a mobile application in the market is the protection of intellectual property. A mobile application can be protected by copyright, patent, design, and as a trademark to safeguard the name of the mobile application, logo, slogan, and icons, which are distinctive features of the application. In addition to appropriate intellectual property protection, your legal protection must be established before the start of development and implementation of the website or application, with confidentiality agreements made during the development phase and continuing with the contractual relationships we will present below.
A mobile application is fundamentally software whose most important element is the source code that drives the software. The author of the source code is also the owner of the software and the holder of the copyright. However, many mobile applications require a team of developers and software implementation from various sources. In the development process, open-source software may be used, for which the developer must obtain an appropriate license, or software elements that were previously used in a project. In the application development process, there can be multiple authors of the source code, so it is essential to know who owns the software and to secure the work and knowledge of all involved. Software developers most often come into contact with companies that hire them to develop a mobile application. It is extremely important that the company obtains ownership of all intellectual property rights of the software through a contractual relationship. Clearly define who owns the code and, in the case of joint ownership, specify the rights of each. Otherwise, intellectual property rights belong to the developer, which can lead to severe financial and business losses.
Before companies can negotiate various obligations, limitations, and conditions of business with each other and with software developers, they must have three fundamental documents that regulate the use, marketing, and data security of applications.
General Terms of Business
Define the conditions of subscription, termination of subscription, maintenance conditions, upgrading, and updating of the software.
Terms of Use Agreement
The Terms and Conditions Agreement is the most important dictating the relationship between your mobile application and your users. It includes clauses that contain the rules, requirements, and limitations with which a user must agree to use your mobile application. Provisions and conditions allow mobile application providers to stop offensive users, terminate access or accounts at their discretion, and enforce rules and guidelines. Although intellectual property can be contractually protected in various ways, including a clause that protects intellectual property in the terms and conditions agreement is extremely beneficial as it protects your intellectual property from users. Users are thus informed before they start using the application that your content is protected according to intellectual property laws and know what they must not do with your protected content. The terms of use agreement usually differs between applications depending on the nature of the application, how it operates, and the functions it performs. For example, an application through which goods are purchased may have clauses in its terms and conditions that address issues related to the sale of goods, delivery of goods, refunds, etc.
The agreement on the terms and conditions of the application must therefore contain clear rules, with which you can avoid consumer complaints or legal disputes, and with a well-prepared agreement you will also gain the trust of your users.
Privacy Policy
When talking about security and trust of users and providers, we are discussing an important document, i.e., the privacy policy. The privacy policy for mobile applications is a legally binding document that must be understandable and visible to every user. In the privacy policy, the provider must explain how the mobile application collects, stores, and uses its users’ data, which allows for personal identification. Developers have a legal duty to maintain the privacy of users, which is in accordance with national and international laws, so truly effective privacy policies urgently require legal assistance.
Licensing
Merely protecting intellectual property is not enough for marketing an application. The most effective way to market an application is through licensing, as it allows the holder to control access to the application and gain numerous benefits without losing ownership of their software and mobile application. What is included in your mobile application license agreement will differ depending on what your goal is. It is unwise to “borrow” someone else’s mobile application license agreement because (a) it probably does not fully protect you and fully realize your goals and desires, and (b) you may be violating the copyright of the person who created the license.
Often, rights holders do not want their created content to be used freely, so software developers must obtain permission to use copyrighted content through a license. Software developers often do not realize that it would be wise to negotiate with rights holders about the terms of use of copyrighted content that would be used for the purpose of developing an application. In the process of negotiating the terms of a license, it is beneficial to know the interests of the rights holders, their current licensing practices, whether they use standard licensing terms, etc., and to appropriately represent your interests.