What are the benefits and drawbacks of patenting your innovations?

According to Schumpeter innovation is a process to bringing a novelty to an organization e.g. a market. Therefore strictly speaking you will never patent an innovation you will patent an invention I.e. a technical solution to a technical problem. Whether an invention becomes an innovation is another story. Yet for the innovation to reach the market you will need funding. Once love money is exhausted VC’s will request some sort of collateral I.e. assets so far patents are the most affordable and the best value to cost ratio assets…

Very good. This is a bureaucratic analysis of patents. It would be interesting to include types of patents in this definition. In a minimum number of countries, industrial design is interpreted as a patent. Not in Brazil.

Having a strong patent portfolio is mandatory if your company has competitors. Patents are mainly use because of their dissuasive effect, but can also become a good exchange tool.

Patent is an excellent Industrial Property asset, as it presupposes that companies take great care to protect their inventive processes. In less developed companies, many potential patents are restricted to the status of industrial or commercial secrets. Therefore, if the company reaches the status of developing everything from secret to patents, it means that it really tries to complete the cycle of investment in innovations so that there is reinvestment to restart the cycle.

One question... How long can you keep secrecy of your invention? There is always the other face of the coin... For sure, better than choose one or another the best solution is to have specialized people deciding wich one is the best opition in a certain moment.

The major drawback I see is that the invention comes into public domain for anyone else to use (after the expiry of 20 years) or develop upon to make their own product. If the invention is expected to be a blockbuster product/process that will have longevity in the commercial market, one could rather think of keeping it confidential as a trade secret (Hint: Coca Cola kept its secret formula as a trade secret rather than filing a patent application for everyone to make it after the expiry of 20 years!). If the product is expected to become obsolete in terms of technology aspects within few years (say an IT product), one may rather consider filing a patent application to protect it.

one complaint I hear from almost all senior citizens is It costs a lot of money: You have to pay to apply for a patent, and you might need to hire a special helper (a lawyer like me :) to help you. You also have to pay money every year to keep the patent. And It takes a long time: It can take many years to get a patent. It's like waiting a really long time for your birthday present! It's hard to stop people from copying you: If someone copies your idea, it can be hard and expensive to make them stop, we have got many Chinese firm stories to discuss for sure.

Yes, it is known that the patent is published, but it happens 18 months later than the filing date. It means that your competitors learn about your activity approximately two years later than you start working on it. It is a risk, but keeping every technology as a trade secret is also risky, since the competitors may block your activity if they obtain a good patent on a field where you may have been working (and investing) several years...

The inventor or business should consider whether the invention is better protected as a patent or a trade secret or even both. If the invention behind a product can be easily reverse engineered, a patent is the way to go. Otherwise, protection as a trade secret may be better. Another point to consider is the cost to value ratio or return on investment. The expected value of the patent should outweight the costs to obtain the patent.

You must work with an IP firm who knows you well, and work side by side with them, so that they may advice and guide you but you always keep the control of the situation. The decisions must always be yours, not theirs!

I think patent is a great way to protect and grow your business - provided you have the funds. Patenting is utterly expensive to maintain especially if you are going global. But you need it when you go global/international. Patenting also likely to invite fast copycaters. I have attended some workshops - the fastest way to check great ideas are from patent office/patent lists! I also know some researchers that hold many patents under their belts - but not making any use to it despite spending a lot of $$$ to maintain them. Of course their names attached to it. Some sectors need patent such as manufacturing, scientific discoveries , electronics perhaps?