April 26 is World Intellectual Property Day, which gives us here at the App Association a chance to reflect on how all kinds of intellectual property rights (IP) – patents, trademarks, copyright, and trade secrets – are the lifeblood of our industry.

The infringement on and theft of intellectual property presents a major threat to the success of App Association members and, in turn, the billions of consumers who rely on these software-based digital products and services. These intellectual property violations can lead to customer data loss, interruption of service, revenue loss, and reputational damage – each alone a potential “end-of-life” occurrence for a small app development company. For example, with the rise of enterprise mobile app development, employees across a business, from shipping to sales, use apps to do their work more efficiently. While this development brings with it great benefit, it also brings risk of exploitation by cyber criminals who infringe on IP to gain access and attack mobile users in the enterprise environment.

What’s more, these bad actors are taking increasingly novel and dynamic approaches to piracy like using, for example, advanced phishing and spoofing tactics. That is why it is important for the App Association, in the United States and abroad, to continue fighting for strong protections for IP while balancing the ability to properly use the intellectual property of others (such as in the case of copyrights).

Across branches of the U.S. government, we continue to reinforce how crucial intellectual property is to our members and will continue to represent our industry across key venues. On the international stage, we participate in key processes and fora such as the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbering (ICANN) where we work to protect our members’ brands and trademarks in the Domain Name System.

We celebrate World Intellectual Property and our innovative members whose livelihood depends upon robust protection of their intellectual property. We urge our members to take a few moments to ask themselves the following questions:

  1. How do you protect your IP? Some IP can’t be enjoyed without government registration/approval. Do you hold valuable intellectual property that you are not fully protecting today? How do you protect your trade secrets?
  2. Has your business ever been threatened by intellectual property infringement like app piracy? What was your experience, and how was it resolved? How can the system be improved?

We rely on our members’ experiences to inform our advocacy, especially on issues concerning IP. Additionally, when members tell us their stories, we put them at the forefront of this discussion. We urge members to share their experiences, thoughts, questions, or feedback with us as we continue to engage in a diversity of venues as proud representatives of the small business innovator.

Happy World Intellectual Property Day 2017, everyone!