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I wonder how or where to protect an app which will be released on google playstore and/or on iOS.

Afaik any protections relate to single nations, so in principle I would have to hand in claims in each nation where I seek for protection. On the other, I guess, the legal site of Google Playstore and iOS is probably in Californa. Hence, would it be sufficient to hand in claims there to gain protection worldwide?

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    You're unlikely to be able to patent the whole app. If there is a particular aspect of the app that is novel and non-obvious, you might be able to patent that. – Eric S♦ Aug 9 '20 at 14:18
  • Thanks, can you also tell whether is sufficient to file a patent in the USA, where the legal site of Google Playstore would be? – Ben Aug 9 '20 at 15:19
  • I am not a lawyer. You really can't rely on legal advice from the internet. You could try asking the question on the Law SE site where more actual lawyers hang out, but still, I wouldn't bet my company on an internet opinion. I suggest consulting with a real live attorney. – Eric S♦ Aug 9 '20 at 16:00
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    None of that is relevant to where Apple happens to locate a server. – Eric S♦ Aug 11 '20 at 13:51
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    According to this article from a few years ago, Apple maintains servers in Ireland and Denmark. It is normal for multinational companies to maintain international servers for both practical and political reasons. datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2015/02/23/… – Eric S♦ Aug 11 '20 at 14:07
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An app might be protected by copyright and/or by patent as well as trademark. This site focuses only on patents; you might get good information at law.stackexchange.com on copyrights and trademarks.

Patents are territorial - they give the owner the right to try to stop anyone from making, selling, offering for sale, importing, or using the patented technology within the jurisdiction or the country granting the patent. Any patent is for something novel and non-obvious. Assuming that is met, apps are theoretically patentable in the U.S, and Europe but may be hard to get unless you have a particularly skillful patent practitioner (attorney or agent) draft, file and prosecute the application for you.

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  • Thank you! What about the specific platforms like playstore with a legal site in California, I guess. Would I need to patent in each country or would the USA be sufficient to gather worldwide protection then? – Ben Aug 8 '20 at 19:21
  • As the answer says, patents are territorial. I bolded the part of the answer that covers this as far a patent law is concerned. You might get a de facto protection broader than the U.S. due to Apple Store policy. I do not know if they have different "stores" for different parts of the world. – George White Aug 8 '20 at 19:33
  • I know that patents are territorial, this is why I mentioned the legal site of Google and Apple. E.g. when police is hunting some criminals they check where the servers are located and only the law of this country needs to be considered. In some manner at least. – Ben Aug 8 '20 at 19:36

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