File a patent or keep it secret

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This is one of the questions that innovators may ask before filing a patent application. Although we, as patent attorneys, normally tend to encourage innovators to file a patent application, we have to be honest that not all the ideas are suitable for patent protection. Patent protection is good choice to protect an idea that can be easily reversed engineered once the product is released, while trade secret is a better option for ideas that are hard to copy. For example, the Coco Cola recipe is never patented, but has been kept as a trade secret.

This is one of the questions that innovators may ask before filing a patent application. Although we, as patent attorneys, normally tend to encourage innovators to file a patent application, we have to be honest that not all the ideas are suitable for patent protection. Patent protection is good choice to protect an idea that can be easily reversed engineered once the product is released, while trade secret is a better option for ideas that are hard to copy. For example, the Coco Cola recipe is never patented, but has been kept as a trade secret.

This is one of the questions that innovators may ask before filing a patent application. Although we, as patent attorneys, normally tend to encourage innovators to file a patent application, we have to be honest that not all the ideas are suitable for patent protection. Patent protection is good choice to protect an idea that can be easily reversed engineered once the product is released, while trade secret is a better option for ideas that are hard to copy. For example, the Coco Cola recipe is never patented, but has been kept as a trade secret.