An invention must at least be new and inventive to be
patentable. Filing a patent application before publicly disclosing
an invention is essential, as a public disclosure of your own
invention can mean the invention is not considered new by the
patent office.
However, before filing and prosecuting a patent application, you
may not actually know whether a granted patent will be beneficial
given the fact that you have not had the opportunity to publicly
disclose, discuss, or share the invention with potential investors,
consumers, or licensees.
Moreover, as 'international' patents do not exist, you
may wish to protect your invention in multiple countries by filing
multiple national patent applications, a European patent
application, and/or a PCT patent application. However, filing and
prosecuting these applications can be expensive, meaning you may
not want to initiate such application processes if you are unsure
as to whether you want or need a granted patent.
