In the present time, patents are one of the major properties of a person which help him to grow in his business. Patents are the creation of the mind and are subject to the protection provided under the Patents Act of 1970. This right is provided for 20 years from the date of filing and after the expiry of this time, the patent will come to the public domain where others can use this technology.
Sometimes, you may be not sure whether you should take the patent for your invention or not. Or sometimes, you may think that you should protect your invention with the help of trade secrets which is also a form of IPR. To remove these common questions, we are going to discuss why an invention should be patented in every country by the inventor and what benefits he can get after patenting his invention.
Why an invention should be patented?
It is always suggested that the invention should be patented by the inventor to protect his rights. There are many other benefits show that why an invention should be patented rather than kept secret. These benefits are:
Legal Protection
Patents provide legal protection to the person who has patented his invention. This invention can be a product or process, the rights are the same for the invention.
Exclusive Right
The patent act provides the exclusive right to an inventor to exclude others from making, using, selling or importing the invention without the consent of the owner. This right is provided for 20 years from the date of filing the patent application.
Market Value
The patented invention increases the market value of a company. It can help to attract investors and potential buyers.
Licencing of Patent
After the grant of the patent, the owner of the patent can sell his patent with the help of licensing. There are many types of licencing which can be helpful for the owner to sell his patent and earn the royalty over his invention.
Competitive Advantage
Patenting our invention helps us to protect the invention from competitors from copying or improving the same invention. If someone tries to do the infringement on a patented invention, you can take the necessary steps to protect intellectual property rights.
Encouragement of Innovation
The protection of intellectual property provides the financial incentive and recognition to the patent holder which motivates him to do more innovations in his life.
Public Disclosure
As we know the person must file Form 2 to file his invention and in this form, he must disclose his invention in full to the patent office. This public disclosure can help others by taking the reference of this invention to study more and to inspire future inventions.
Research and Development (R&D) Funding
The investor can be attracted by the patented invention, and they can offer funding for more research and development for the patented invention so that you can invest such money to improve your invention.
Business Partnership
A patent owner can ask the companies for a business partnership by sharing his invention with the company which can increase the growth of the company.
International Protection
After the PCT was introduced in the Intellectual Property laws, the inventor can file and protect his invention in more than one country. Many treaties have been made by India. With the help of these treaties, you can now secure your invention in many countries that are also part of these treaties.
Infringement Suit
After the successful filing of the patent application, the competitors will be afraid of the infringement suit and will not attempt to copy or use your invention without your prior permission.
Brand Name
If a company files a patent application and gets a grant for the same, it can help to improve the reputation of your brand name in the market.
Job Creation
A patented invention may help to provide new jobs for the people in the country and contribute to the economic growth of the country.
Technology Transfer
It is the most important part of a patent invention that the owner of the patent can transfer his patented technology to another by negotiating the price depending on the valuation of the patent.
Longevity of Protection
The term of a patent is long compared to the trade secrets. It means if you think that you can secure your invention with the help of trade secrets, then you may lose your invention if the secret is independently discovered or reverse-engineered by others.
Conclusion
Patents are one of the famous and most protected forms of IPRs where you can keep your invention secured for 20 years. That is why it is always beneficial to protect your invention with the help of a patent. I hope now you understand why an invention should be patented rather than kept secret.