How to Patent, Copyright, or Sell an App in 2026

Patenting, Copyrighting, or Selling an App: The Short Answer

You cannot patent or copyright an app idea. You can patent a specific technical method your app uses, if it passes a strict test; your code, screens and art are copyrighted automatically; and your app's name is protected by a trademark. To sell an app, you list it on a marketplace and move it to the buyer's developer account, and buyers pay for revenue and users, not for the idea.

Quick answer: can you patent, copyright, or sell an app? An idea alone cannot be patented or copyrighted. A software patent covers a specific technical method, costs $400 to $2,000 in USPTO filing, search and examination fees plus roughly $10,000 to $20,000 or more in attorney fees, and must survive the Supreme Court's Alice test. Copyright protects your code and original screens automatically, and US registration costs $45 or $65. A trademark protects the app's name for $350 per class. Selling works through marketplaces such as Acquire.com, Flippa and Microns, followed by an App Store or Google Play transfer. Flippa reports mobile apps sold for about 2.9x profit in late 2024, so revenue matters far more than legal paperwork.

This guide is general information for US founders, not legal advice. For a filing decision, talk to a registered patent attorney or an IP lawyer.

What can you actually protect in an app?

Each part of an app is protected by a different tool, and the idea itself is protected by none of them. That is the single most useful thing to understand before you spend money.

The U.S. Copyright Office states it directly: copyright "does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation" (Copyright Office FAQ). Patent law treats "abstract ideas" as an exception to what can be patented at all (USPTO MPEP 2106).

Can you patent an app?

Sometimes, but not the idea and not the app as a whole. You can patent a specific, technical way of doing something that is new and not obvious, and that is more than a business idea running on a phone.

The barrier is the Supreme Court's 2014 decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank. The USPTO applies it as a two-part test (MPEP 2106):

1. Is the claim directed to an abstract idea, a law of nature or a natural phenomenon?
2. If so, does it add an "inventive concept" that amounts to significantly more than that idea?

Most app concepts fail at step one, because they are a familiar business practice moved onto a screen: matching buyers and sellers, booking appointments, tracking habits. The Court was blunt that a computer does not rescue them: "the mere recitation of a generic computer cannot transform a patent-ineligible abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention" (Alice v. CLS Bank, 573 U.S. 208).

What has a better chance is a concrete technical improvement: a new way to compress sensor data on device, a new method for syncing offline edits, a new approach to on-device image recognition. If you cannot describe what your app does differently in technical terms, without describing the business, a patent is unlikely.

How do you patent an app idea, step by step?

If you do have a technical method worth protecting, the path at the USPTO looks like this.

1. Write down the method in detail: what problem it solves, how it works, and why it differs from existing approaches. Diagrams help.
2. Search existing patents and published apps (prior art). Google Patents and the USPTO's own search are free starting points.
3. File a provisional application to lock in a filing date. It is cheaper, and provisional applications "are not examined on their merits" (USPTO).
4. Within 12 months, file the full nonprovisional application. If you miss that window, the provisional's filing date is lost.
5. Respond to examiner rejections (expect at least one for software), then pay the issue fee if allowed.

Do not publish, pitch publicly or launch the app before filing if you want patent protection outside the US. The US gives a one-year grace period after your own disclosure; most other countries do not.

How much does it cost to patent an app?

USPTO fees alone run from about $400 to $2,000 to file, plus an issue fee, depending on your entity size. Attorney fees are the larger cost.

Source: USPTO fee schedule. Micro entities get "an 80% reduction on most fees," and the gross income limit for micro entity status is $262,380 (USPTO). Paper filing adds a $400 fee, so file electronically.

Attorney fees are where the real money goes. One patent firm puts software application preparation at "$10,000 to $20,000 or more, plus the filing fees" (Arapackelaw), and IPWatchdog's long-standing estimate for software inventions is "$16,000 +" through filing (IPWatchdog). Responding to rejections adds more. For most first-time app founders, that budget does more for the business if it goes into building and marketing the app.

Can you copyright an app?

Yes, and you already have. Your work "is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form," and registration is voluntary (Copyright Office FAQ).

Copyright covers the expression in your app: source code, original graphics, icons, illustrations, sounds, onboarding text and App Store copy. It does not cover what the app does. The Copyright Office says "the copyright law does not protect the functional aspects of a computer program," including algorithms, logic and system design (Circular 61). The "look and feel" of a layout is not protected either (Circular 66). So a competitor can legally build an app that does the same thing, as long as they do not copy your code or original assets.

How do you register a copyright for an app, and why bother?

You register online through the Copyright Office's eCO system. The fee is $45 for a Single Application (one author, one work, not made for hire) or $65 for a Standard Application (Copyright Office fees).

Registration matters because of two rules in US law:

• You cannot sue over a US work until it is registered (17 U.S.C. 411).
• You cannot claim statutory damages or attorney's fees for infringement that began before registration, unless you registered within three months of first publication (17 U.S.C. 412).

The practical move is to register within three months of your App Store launch. For the deposit, the Copyright Office normally asks for the first 25 and last 25 pages of source code, and it offers options for code with trade secrets, such as blocking out the secret parts or depositing only the first and last 10 pages (Circular 61). A program registration also covers the original screens the program generates when you own both.

What about apps built with AI?

AI assistance does not stop you from owning a copyright, but prompts alone do not create one. The Copyright Office's January 2025 report says AI outputs "can be protected by copyright only where a human author has determined sufficient expressive elements," and that using AI to help make a work "does not bar copyrightability" (Copyright Office). Courts agree that a human author is required (Thaler v. Perlmutter, D.C. Cir. 2025).

For founders building with AI tools, the protectable parts are the ones you shaped: the code you wrote or meaningfully edited, your own art and copy, the selection and arrangement of the product, and above all the name, the brand and the user base. When registering, disclose AI-generated material and claim only the human-authored parts.

Should you trademark your app name?

For most indie apps, a trademark is the most useful filing of the three. It protects the name and logo users search for, which is what copycats actually exploit. A trademark is "any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination" that identifies your goods or services (USPTO).

The USPTO base application fee is $350 per class of goods or services, with surcharges for incomplete information or free-form descriptions (USPTO fee schedule). Most apps file in class 9 (downloadable software), and some add class 42 (software as a service). The USPTO's target is a first examiner action within 5 months of filing (USPTO trademark dashboard). Search the USPTO database and the App Store for the name before you build a brand on it.

Can you sell an app idea?

Rarely. Companies almost never pay for unbuilt ideas, and many refuse to look at them. Apple's policy is typical: it does "not accept, review or consider any unsolicited ideas," and anything sent anyway "will automatically become the property of Apple, without any compensation to you" (Apple).

An idea gains value once it is built, launched and used. A working app with a few hundred users and some revenue is a real asset you can sell. If you share an unlaunched concept with developers or partners, use a written NDA and keep the technical details that matter private, which makes them a trade secret. Trade secrets are protected by federal law when misappropriated (18 U.S.C. 1836), but only for as long as you keep them secret.

How do you sell an app?

Selling an app is selling a small online business. The process has five steps.

1. Clean up the numbers. Buyers want 12 months of revenue, profit, downloads, active users and churn, ideally exported from the App Store, Google Play, Stripe or RevenueCat.
2. Value it. Most small apps sell on a multiple of annual profit (see below).
3. List it on a marketplace or approach likely buyers directly (competitors, app portfolio owners, studios in your category).
4. Sign an asset purchase agreement and use escrow. It should list exactly what transfers: the app, source code, domain, trademarks, social accounts, email list and any subscription contracts.
5. Transfer the app to the buyer's developer account, then hand over code, credentials and documentation.

Where can you sell an app, and what does it cost?

Three marketplaces cover most small app sales. Fees are charged when the sale closes.

How much is my app worth?

Small apps usually sell for two to four times annual profit. Flippa's data for mobile app deals over $25,000 shows profit multiples falling from 9.92x in late 2022 (inflated by one large portfolio sale) to 2.93x in the second half of 2024, with revenue multiples at 2.52x (Flippa). Acquire.com reports that SaaS businesses sold at a median 3.9x profit in both 2024 and 2025 (Acquire.com).

So an app earning $2,000 a month in profit ($24,000 a year) might sell for roughly $60,000 to $95,000. Recurring subscription revenue, steady growth, low churn and traffic that does not depend on you personally push the multiple up. An app with no revenue is often valued at little more than the cost of rebuilding it. A patent or registered copyright rarely changes the price much for a small app; a registered trademark and clean ownership of code and assets make due diligence smoother.

How do you transfer an app on the App Store or Google Play?

On the App Store, the seller starts the transfer in App Store Connect and the buyer accepts it. Apple's main conditions (Apple transfer criteria):

• Both accounts must be in good standing, and both parties "must have accepted the latest version of their paid and free agreements."
• "The app must have at least one version that was released to the App Store."
• The app cannot be in review, waiting for release or on pre-order.
• In-App Purchase product IDs cannot clash with any IDs in the buyer's account.
• Apple Arcade apps cannot be transferred.

The app keeps its reviews, ratings and bundle ID, and users keep receiving updates. Before transferring, turn off TestFlight and remove Xcode Cloud data; apps using Sign in with Apple need transfer identifiers for each user, and the Apple Pay merchant ID does not move (Apple transfer overview).

On Google Play, you request the transfer through Play Console support with both accounts' registration transaction IDs. Users, statistics, ratings and reviews move to the new account, but orders created before the transfer stay with the original one (Google Play Help).

Patent, copyright, or sell: which should you do first?

For most indie founders, the order is: trademark the name, register the copyright within three months of launch, skip the patent unless you have a genuine technical invention, and put the remaining time and money into growth. The value that a buyer pays for, and that protects you from copycats in practice, comes from users and revenue.

That is also why the tools you build with matter. As a disclosure, Superapp is our product, so weigh this accordingly. Superapp turns a plain-language description into a native iOS app and prepares it for App Store submission, and it is one of the few app builders that also helps with getting users: a marketing agent, currently in closed beta, automates Apple Ads, App Store optimization and UGC content. Other routes work too: FlutterFlow or Adalo for no-code builds, Xcode if you code, and services such as RevenueCat for subscriptions. Whichever you choose, keep ownership of your developer account, code and brand in your own name, because those are the assets you will one day sell.

For the next steps, see our guides on publishing an app to the App Store, making money from an app and getting users for your app.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you patent an app idea?
No. An idea on its own is an abstract idea and cannot be patented. You may be able to patent a specific technical method your app uses, if it is new, not obvious and passes the Supreme Court's Alice test, which most business-style app concepts fail.

How much does it cost to patent an app?
USPTO filing, search and examination fees total $2,000 for large entities, $800 for small entities and $400 for micro entities, plus an issue fee of $258 to $1,290 if granted. Attorney fees for a software patent typically add $10,000 to $20,000 or more.

Can you copyright an app?
Yes. Copyright applies automatically to your source code, original graphics and text the moment they are created. It does not protect the app's idea, functions or look and feel. Registering with the U.S. Copyright Office costs $45 or $65.

Do I need to register my app's copyright?
Not to own it, but you must register before suing over a US work, and you can only claim statutory damages and attorney's fees if you registered before the infringement or within three months of first publication.

Can I copyright an app built with AI?
Partly. The Copyright Office protects the human-authored parts, such as code you wrote or meaningfully edited and your own art and text, but not material created from prompts alone. Disclose AI-generated parts when you register.

Should I trademark my app name?
For most apps, yes. A trademark protects the name and logo users recognize. The USPTO base fee is $350 per class, and most apps file in class 9 for downloadable software.

Can you sell an app idea?
Rarely. Most companies refuse unsolicited ideas, and Apple's policy says submitted ideas become its property without compensation. Ideas become sellable once they are built and have users or revenue.

How much can I sell my app for?
Small apps typically sell for two to four times annual profit. Flippa reported mobile apps at about 2.9x profit in late 2024, and Acquire.com reported a 3.9x median for SaaS in 2024 and 2025.

Where can I sell my app?
Acquire.com, Flippa and Microns are the main marketplaces for small apps, with fees between about 6% and 10% of the sale price. You can also sell directly to a competitor or app portfolio owner.

How do I transfer an app to a buyer?
On the App Store, start the transfer in App Store Connect; the app must have at least one released version and both accounts must have current agreements. On Google Play, request the transfer through Play Console support with both accounts' transaction IDs.

References

• USPTO, MPEP 2106 Patent Subject Matter Eligibility
• Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. 208 (2014)
• USPTO fee schedule
• USPTO, Micro entity status
• USPTO, Provisional application for patent
• Arapackelaw, Software patent cost
• IPWatchdog, The cost of obtaining a patent in the US
• U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright FAQ
• U.S. Copyright Office, Fees
• U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 61: Copyright Registration of Computer Programs
• U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 66: Copyright Registration of Websites and Website Content
• U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Part 2
• IPWatchdog, Thaler v. Perlmutter
• 17 U.S.C. 411 and 17 U.S.C. 412
• 18 U.S.C. 1836, Defend Trade Secrets Act
• USPTO, What is a trademark
• USPTO, Trademarks dashboard
• Apple, Unsolicited Idea Submission Policy
• Apple, App transfer criteria
• Apple, Overview of app transfer
• Google Play Console Help, Transfer apps
• Acquire.com, Seller pricing
• Acquire.com, Acquisition multiples report (Jan 2026)
• Flippa, Pricing
• Flippa, Mobile app valuation
• ExitBid, Flippa fees explained
• Microns, Pricing