Law and Innovation

Fresh and interesting article posted on BI about why and how Apple is now an existential threat to Android. In Q4, Android still sold 206 million phones whereas Apple (only) sold 75 million. Nevertheless, it's the first time that Android has seen a quarter of sales declines. Happy reading!  "For the first time ever, sales of  Google's Android mobile devices have gone into decline  — an astonishing defeat for a product that is given away free to manufacturers. Google ought to be terrified at this news. Apple's iOS operating system for iPhone and iPad is trampling all over the Android world right now. This isn't just an incremental shift in market share. This is, if left unchecked, an existential turning point for Android and its developers and manufacturers. After all, if you can't win a battle against a product that costs about $700/£550 with a product that's equally good but free, then you're screwed. "Defeat" for Android is rel...

In today's knowledge economy, intellectual property (hereafter "IP") rights are very important and powerful.  Unfortunately for (young) entrepreneur's, it's not always the first thing that will cross your mind when you start a business. Indeed, you get excited by your project, you have a multitude of activities and issues that you have to deal with, you start to spread your idea everywhere, etc. However, if you want to protect your smartphone application (hereafter “app”) and generate profits, you should really read this article! In this article, two questions will be analyzed. In terms of IP rights protection: (1)     What should a startup do when starting a business? For instance, should you patent your smartphone application  [5] ? Do you need a trademark? A short summary of  Apple trademark applications icon 'strategy' will also be explained.   (2)     What can a sta...