Founders and indie developers

Someone cloned my SaaS or website: what can I do?

Last reviewed 20 October 2026

The short answer

If someone has cloned your website or SaaS, your written copy, graphics and original design are protected by copyright, and your name is protected by trade mark or passing off. Gather dated evidence, then report the clone to its host and registrar, file app store complaints for any copied apps, and send a cease and desist if the operator is identifiable. Copying features alone usually isn't infringement; copying your words, visuals or name often is.

What's protected and what isn't

Your website text, marketing copy and documentation: copyright.
Your logos, illustrations, screenshots and original graphics: copyright, and trade mark for registered logos.
Your product or company name: trade mark if registered, passing off if you have goodwill.
Your code: copyright, if it was actually copied rather than rewritten.
Your idea, features and pricing model: generally not protected on their own.

Gather evidence

Capture the clone with dates: full-page screenshots, the URL, and the parts copied word for word. Archive services and your own version history help show your pages came first. If the clone takes payments or sign-ups, note that, because it makes host and registrar reports more urgent.

Getting it taken down

Report copied content to the hosting provider as a copyright complaint.
If it impersonates you or takes payments, report it to the registrar as abuse too.
Report copied mobile apps to the App Store and Google Play.
If the operator is identifiable, send a short, factual cease and desist with a deadline.
For a lookalike domain you want transferred, consider UDRP or Nominet's DRS.

Protect yourself before the next one

Register your product name as a trade mark in class 9 (software) and class 42 (software as a service). Keep dated copies of your site and marketing. And watch for new lookalike domains and app store listings, because clones often launch on a new domain days after a successful launch or a viral post.

What a cease and desist should cover

Keep it short and factual. A letter that's easy to verify gets a faster response than a long, angry one, and it reads better if it ever ends up in front of a host, a store or a court.

Who you are and what you own: your site, product name, and any trade mark registration.
Exactly what they've copied, with links and screenshots.
What you want them to do: take down the copied material, stop using the name, transfer the domain.
A clear deadline, commonly 14 days.
A statement that you reserve your rights, rather than threats you may not follow through.

How Infringement Ninja helps

Infringement Ninja watches new certificates for domains that look like your name and opens each one to see whether it's a clone, searches the app stores for rebadged copies of your app, and drafts the abuse reports and complaints with the evidence.

Common questions

Can someone legally copy my SaaS features?

Usually, yes. Features, ideas and pricing models aren't generally protected on their own. Copying your text, design, graphics, code or name is a different matter.

Who do I report a cloned website to?

The hosting provider for copied content, and the domain registrar if the site impersonates you or takes payments. A WHOIS or RDAP lookup shows who they are.

Which trade mark classes cover SaaS?

Class 9 covers downloadable software and class 42 covers software as a service. Many SaaS companies register in both.

Catch copies before your customers do

Infringement Ninja watches the UK trade mark journal, lookalike domains, the app stores and the web, marketplaces included, for your brand, and drafts the takedowns. Free for one brand.

See how a clone gets caught

This guide is general information, not legal advice.