intellectual-propertyI’m developing an app and I want to use a sort of “like” and “poke” actions. Also I want to use a function very similar of another app. But I’m afraid of violation of intellectual property or something like that.
Also, my own app works very similar to another already in the market, not exactly the same, but the idea is still the same. Because I had the idea with another friend and when we look up at the internet, we discovered very similar apps, but we want to develop something with a more local culture.
I would not use the code of these actions, or the app, but a very similar idea. How can I be sure if I can use it or not?
As you've noticed, many products and services use the like action.
So the short answer, you can use actions like the "like button".
However, you can't copy the exact look and feel of the Facebook Like Button.
It's one thing to use a "thumbs up" and another to make it look just like the FB like.
And just for laughs. FB was sued for using the Like Button.
Adding a bit onto thedp’s answer, there are two primary areas of concern in something like this: trademarks and copyrights. A patent might be relevant, but there are enough similar functionalities out there that it’s unlikely anyone will be pursuing legal action against them any time soon, and through that, ever. thedp’s answer does refer to a case of a lawsuit against Facebook over that functionality, but it should be noted that those patents were found invalid anyway.
Pardon if you already know this, copyrights are probably less of a concern here than trademarks, so I’ll start with them. Copyright law is put in place to protect artists, people who make paintings, music, buildings, or pretty well whatever other creative works you can think of. For you to infringe their copyright, you’d pretty well have to take a screenshot of the Facebook Like button and use it as your own. As long as there are creative differences in your interpretations, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Trademarks are your biggest risk, but I wouldn’t really worry about them either. Trademark law is put in place to protect consumers: if I see someone’s name or logo on something, I can trust that that “someone” was the legitimate source of that “something.” The grounds here for infringement are also pretty easy to get around for something like this. Just don’t make it confusing. Build your own brand, and it should be fine. Trademarks are pretty hard to keep around in some cases like this (I honestly don’t even know whether Facebook’s ‘Like’ button is registered), because they can’t be hindering to competitors, and they can’t lend innate advantages. So if you need a “Like” button to do what you’re doing, there’s a good chance that you’ll hold up in court.
Ultimately, for a case like this, I’d say don’t worry about this directly, and instead, focus your efforts on the business side. Unless you’re looking to build a business with the express goal of stealing unaware Facebook users, which I like to think you aren’t, you’ll probably have some focus on building your own brand. Do that, and you should be fine.
As for your concerns about copying someone else’s ideas for apps, purposefully or, in your case, otherwise, remember that you can’t patent an idea: only an invention. That means that what you protect is an implementation. A patent needs to be “enabling” to a person with reasonable skill in the art.
Random example: if you invented some means of purifying water, you might get a patent on running water through a series of materials that clean it, but you wouldn’t get a patent on “purifying water.”
More technically, I can imagine a patent on a QWERTY keyboard, and strategically placing keys to improve speed on a typewriter, but nobody could patent “a fast keyboard.”
As such, I again urge you to simply develop your business. I don’t want to oversimplify the subject of evading patent infringement, and it’s something you should think about (without performing patent searches, in my opinion), but as long as your implementation is different enough from those other apps, you should have a pretty good case.
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