Are your app developers looking out for you?
An unfortunate trend that's sweeping the app development world is plagiarism.
From mobile apps to proprietary business apps, business owners are beginning to find nearly exact replicas of their applications in use without their permission.
With appropriate app protection in mind, here are a few ways your app developers can protect your business apps from plagiarism.
Importance of Protecting Your Applications
If you hire an app development team for your business and they design apps that are specifically built for your needs, then those are referred to as proprietary applications. By definition, proprietary means the apps are owned by your business that is unless you've come up with a partial ownership agreement with your app developers.
When other businesses plagiarize and take advantage of your apps, they are taking away from the time and money you spent developing those apps.
This not only ends up hurting your business financially, it can also create a situation where others assume the app didn't originate with your business - none of these scenarios are desirable.
RELATED CONTENT: Are you driven by mobile apps?
In order to avoid a plagiarism scenario with your business apps, make sure your app development team registers and copyrights them. Doing so allows your business to take legal action if blatant plagiarism ever occurs.
There are also a number of other ways you can protect your business apps.
Consider an NDA
Keeping your apps under wraps until the completion of the development process is a crucial part of protecting your software. In looking at the article, “How can your app developers be sure nobody plagiarises your stuff” well, a non-disclosure agreement is a good place to start.
By having your development team and any other employees involved in the app development process sign an NDA; you can rest assured your software is kept secret.
NDAs outline confidentiality guidelines, secrecy guidelines, and the legal ramifications that go along with leaking classified information.
An NDA will help keep everyone on the same page when it comes to keeping your business app confidential.
RELATED CONTENT: Top 10 Canadian Business Apps
Update Regularly
There are occasions where the competition can mimic your business application, by not enough for your business to take legal action. To stay ahead of the knock off competitors, distinguish your application by updating it frequently.
If you put all of your eggs in one basket in terms of app functionality, plagiarizers will have everything they need to mimic your application.
However, if you regularly update the app's functionality and other features, competitors won't be able to keep up and your business app will naturally stay ahead of the pack.
Document the Distribution Process
If you're planning on distributing your business app to a massive audience, it's important to document every step of the distribution process.
Which app stores are you registering the app with? Are you selling the app to any third-party vendors? What are the download rates with your new app?
RELATED CONTENT: Does your company's mobile app need a jumpstart?
By documenting certain aspects of the distribution process and tracking download rates, you can quickly discover instances of plagiarism if/when they take place.
In addition, by documenting the distribution process, you'll have thorough records that can help defend your ownership if legal action is necessary.
In order to protect your business and its applications, make sure your app developers are looking out for plagiarism.
About the Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including app development and protection.
