I thought… “Why disclose details of my inventions by way of patents? It’s better to keep the invention as a trade secret”
Yes, this may be a good option PROVIDED the invention can be kept as a trade secret. Often, inventions involving chemical formulation, recipes which can be kept within the four walls of the factory or laboratory can be kept a trade secret (but with modern analytical tools available in the market even complex formulation can be deciphered). On the other hand, mechanical or electronic devices can be easily reverse engineered. If copied, in such manner, the original owner of the trade secret has no legal recourse against ‘infringers’ unless there was theft of trade secret or breach of the confidentiality obligation. Yet again, the original owner has no legal resource against anyone who independently develops an identical or similar product or process without committing any act of theft of trade secrets.
But if the product/process is patented, then, even an independent inventor who had no knowledge of the existence of the patent would still be liable for patent infringement if he/she had produced the same patented product or used the patented process. That’s the power of patents. Often, a patent is an unnoticed weapon to be used against innocent infringers of patent rights.
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