Today, owning your intellectual property can often be quite a hassle. In the competitive world that we live in, IP infringement battles are pretty much an everyday occurrence, so it is pretty logical that you would fear to make your website public without knowing all the things that you can do in order to protect it from theft.
Next to copyright and trademark, patenting is one of the ways to protect what is rightfully yours, and with it, stand among your competition. After all, you want both things – to have an edge on other companies in your field/niche, and to protect your IP from any of them stealing bits of it in order to undermine your efforts.
In this article, we are going to take a look at everything that you need to know on patenting your website.
First of all – Can a website be patented?
It may already seem contradictory with what we have discussed in the introduction to the article, but the answer is – no, you cannot patent your whole website. The fact is that your site consists of a wide variety of different parts that make up a whole.
You have got the code that lies behind it all and communicates with both a server and a computer that wants to access the website, in order to make it all work. Then, there are design elements, which make your website unique and give it a certain feel and look. After that, you’ve got all the content on your website which includes text, pictures, sounds, and videos that are made for users to engage with. In the end, in case your website works as a storefront, there are other processes going on there, like purchase.
So, with all these components of a website, what is it that you can actually patent?
What can be patented on a website?
In order to get anything patented, it needs to meet three crucial requirements:
- It has to be new
- It has to be useful
- It has to be non-obvious
According to this, you can get three kinds of patents – utility, design, and plant patents. When it comes to your website, we can obviously throw out the third option. Also, when it comes to a design patent, the idea behind it is to protect an article’s shape, look, or texture. Sadly, this is something that also cannot be applied to your website, no matter how original your web designer is.
What you are left with is a utility patent. Such a patent protects processes, machines, articles of manufacture, or makings of a particular matter. So, when discussing a website, what you can patent is every process that happens on it, made possible by its code or software.
This pretty much means that what can be patented is a unique process that a website or an app make happen. A large number of patents has been provided to online companies for their business methods. In other words, the patent protects the “unique way of doing business via your software or code”.
For other website aspects, you need to look more into copyrighting and trademarking.
How to get a patent?
Start by drawing out your website and creating appropriate diagrams. Consider the interface, the process that generates it, and, as previously ascertained, the code and software that lies behind it. Basically, you need system diagrams, screen drawings, database diagrams, and flow charts.
Then, you need to write a claim. It is supposed to carefully outline how your website is your own invention in terms of software that it uses. Then, write a proper description of your site. Provide a detailed description of every drawing that you have previously made, focusing on the most essential features. Your description needs to consist of specific sections, namely:
- Brief description
- Detailed description
- Claims
- Abstract
After that, all that you have to do is file the application with the Patent Office. There will be fees that you are going to have to pay, and, of course, you must respond to anything that you receive from the Patent Office in a timely manner.
Patent disputes
Once you have patented your website’s “business methods”, there is a high probability that you are going to find yourself in a patent dispute. Basically, a competitor may be selling or misusing in any other way a process that you have legally protected. If anyone uses, makes, promotes, hires, sells, offers, or disposes of your patented process in any way, it constitutes a case of patent infringement. The best course of action is to find the right kind of attorney to help you throughout the whole ordeal.
Sometimes, the best idea is to approach the whole situation aggressively, as it becomes inevitable and imperative. However, most often it is much better to look for an alternative resolution. You and the accused party can negotiate or mediate and find a simpler resolution for the whole dispute. The first step is usually to send a letter of demand, properly asking for the party to acknowledge your legal rights over the process and stop infringing them. This way, the lawyers on both sides will establish the means of communication between you and the other side, so that you can potentially find a settlement that is commercially convenient for both. Most often, this approach tends to work, relieving you of having to resort to aggressive patent litigation.
In summation
When it comes to patenting your website, it applies only to the unique processes happening on it thanks to the code and/or software that you use. This is the so-called utility patent. For other aspects, you have to resort to copyrights and trademarks. Once the Patent Office grants you a patent for your website, you will have a strong legal ground to defend it in case a patent dispute arises.
Bio: David Koller is a passionate blogger and copywriter for Media Gurus, mainly interested in SEO, Business and Digital Marketing.