I have referenced ResApps patent applications earlier but here...

I have referenced  ResApps patent applications earlier but here is the USA one again as it is relevant to discussion in this thread.

http://www.google.com/patents/WO2013142908A1?cl=en

The fact that the patent  and all its detailed claims are filed is as good as you can get in protecting the invention at this time.

Its a very detailed and scientific document that dissects each claim and describes the methodolgy very thoroughly.

Although, as a publc document it would provide clues as to how the technology works, it consequently makes it harder for a competitor to circumvent.

Way down the bottom of the document under the heading Patent Citations is a list of other patents that diagnose  cough sounds etc.

If you take a look at those patents, all prior efforts in cough diagnosis  do not come anywhere near the sophistication  in analysis of the cough including The extent that pneumonia in particular and other diseases are identified.

No other patents incorpoate resapps claim no 14 of  18 claims that use mobile technology.

"14. A computational device according to claim 13, wherein the computational device comprises a mobile telephone or like device that is programmed to carry out said method."

Nothing is black or white when it comes to scientific claims and international patent law but in my opinion Resapp have a strong basis, having even just filed the application, to protect their IP.

Fox