Should the invention be patented?

Often, developers of new ideas, when bringing them to life, are in no hurry to register patents for their inventions. They tend to put off this important step until later, hoping that no one will create similar developments.

But they are wrong, and a delay in registering a patent can lead to loss of not only money, but also image. Thus, unscrupulous competitors, monitoring the lack of patent protection for an invention they are interested in, can adopt the idea, producing a counterfeit product and selling it at a reduced price. Therefore, timely patenting of new inventions is a very important and economically necessary stage for the development of companies, as it prevents not only copying technologies, but also the product itself, and therefore saves money and time spent on their development.

An attempt by a developer to file a patent may fail if a competitor already produces a product because information about the invention becomes publicly available and it loses its novelty. If the developer successfully obtains a patent for his invention, he, however, cannot prohibit an unscrupulous competitor from releasing the product, since the latter received the right of prior use by selling the product before the developer received a patent for it.

Also, a difficult situation can arise if the invention was developed by several partners, who subsequently, without filing patent rights for it, began to release the product on the market. In this case, the partners of one of the developers, who patented the development and limited its production to their former colleagues under the right of prior use, will also be limited in their rights.

It is necessary to take into account the fact that products protected by a patent, and therefore by law, inspire greater confidence not only among consumers, but also among government customers, as well as private trading enterprises, since a patent is a strong marketing tool and provides a competitive advantage in the market.

In addition, a patent, being a serious intangible asset, can increase not only the value of a company or production, but also improve their reputation in the market.