All the fruits of intellectual labor, such as methods, techniques and formulas. You can apply for a patent, and you can authorize it if it meets the three characteristics of practicality, novelty and creativity of the patent.
You can apply, such as "the way to communicate with strangers based on geographical location". "Third-party depository network payment method" (of course, these have applications)
If the application is authorized, the patent itself is a very convincing tool in the scheme. .