Loose Lips Might Sink IP Ships

You have just come up with a new and exciting invention. Understandably, you are keen to disclose your invention - perhaps to a potential investor or external collaborator. However, disclosing your invention in the wrong way, at the wrong time, or to the wrong person, may prevent you from being able to effectively commercialise your invention. In particular, you may find that you are unable to obtain useful patent protection for your invention. So it is important to understand how the inevitable tension between disclosing and patenting your invention can be effectively managed.

Two of the fundamental requirements to get a patent for an invention are that the invention is novel and inventive over the prior art. The prior art is generally everything that has been made available to the public before the filing date of a patent application, and includes written disclosures, oral disclosures, and physical products that have been accessible in the public domain. So, if