Loose Lips Might Sink IP Ships

Why disclosure matters for patent protection

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 to effectively manage the inevitable tension between disclosing and patenting your invention.

Two fundamental requirements for obtaining a patent on an invention are that it is novel and inventive over the prior art. The prior art generally comprises everything made available to the public before the effective filing date of a patent application, including written and oral disclosures and physical products accessible in the public domain. So, if you know that