Connecting trade secrets to patents and disclosure

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Connecting trade secrets to patents and disclosure

Many times confidentiality is about ensuring that someone doesn't take or use your secret. For example, if you have a new business idea and you want to ask someone for business advice, you might have them sign a nondisclosure agreement. A contract that requires that they not use or disclose your idea. The same might be true of taking a new idea to a factory to have a prototype made. You may consider having the party sign a nondisclosure agreement, to ensure that the factories don't take your idea for themselves. But, there is another very important reason to use confidentiality in some cases.

Let's say that you're developing a product that you eventually want to patent. Under patent law, if you disclose your idea, you only have one year from that disclosure until you have to file for a patent or you'll lose the right to patent your invention. Many people don't realize this, when they're working on something that they may eventually want to patent. It's very important that you keep your invention confidential until you file a patent.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/understanding-trade-secrets-a-deeper-dive/connecting-trade-secrets-to-patents-and-disclosure