Is a Patent the Best Choice of Protection?

Please note that an integral part of the patenting process is the publication of a patent application, after which the content of the application becomes publicly available. This means that the data on your invention will be publicly available regardless of whether the patent will be granted in the continuation of the procedure or not. In the event that for any reason the proceedings do not end with the grant of the patent, the invention will not enjoy any protection, while at the same time making information about it public. However, in this way you have prevented anyone else from obtaining patent protection for such an invention in the future, since the invention has entered the prior state of the art by publication, which can sometimes also be one of the aims of filing a patent application.

Instead of filing a patent, you can choose to keep your invention a trade secret and use it yourself without revealing the details of the invention to others. In this case, you run the risk that someone else will find out about your invention and use it, or come up with such an invention on one’s own, and you do not have an effective remedy to prevent such use. Therefore, it is advisable to use this form of protection only if it is reasonable to assume that the user will not be able to reconstruct the technical details of the invention by inspecting the product or process based on the invention, and if you have taken all available measures to keep it a trade secret.

The patent system is characterized by lower costs at the beginning of the patent grant procedure, which gives you some time to make a final decision on protection before the occurrence of significantly higher costs in the later stages of the protection procedure.

Analyse your invention and the possibilities of its protection. Is a patent the only and best form of protection? Certain aspects of the product based on your invention may also be protected through other types of intellectual property.