A Board Certified Patent Attorney

Archive for the ‘Maintaining Confidentiality’ Category

Risks of Disclosing Your Invention Prior to a Patent Filing

The possibility of having your new idea stolen before you have applied for a patent is something that has haunted every new inventor. It is important to keep the details of your new idea secret until you have at least applied for a patent. In addition to the possibility of your idea being stolen, there are other potential pitfalls of disclosing your invention before a patent application is applied for. Most importantly, prematurely disclosing your invention can jeapordize your ability to obtain patent protection. In the United States, there are certain deadlines which must be met in order to avoid the loss of patent rights. One of these is that in the United States an inventor must file a patent application with the United States Patent & Trademark Office within one year of the first date on which the invention was in