How to choose between patent protection and trade secret protection
For scientific research results, companies should choose patent protection based on different circumstances. or trade secret protection.
So, how do companies choose the legal protection method for scientific research results?
1. Difficulty of reverse engineering
Reverse engineering refers to dissecting the product and analysis to derive its construction, composition, and manufacturing methods or processes. Technology obtained through reverse engineering is legal. For an enterprise's scientific research results, if it is impossible for other companies to obtain the technology through reverse engineering or it is difficult to obtain the technology through reverse engineering, then the company should choose trade secret protection; for scientific research results that are easy to be reverse engineered by other companies to obtain the technology, Enterprises should choose patent protection.
2. The duration of the value of scientific research results
span>Modern science and technology develops rapidly, and sometimes technology has been eliminated in less than half a year. Therefore, companies should evaluate the time limit for the value of their own scientific research results. If the term of the scientific research results does not exceed the term of patent law protection, then the company can choose patent protection. However, if the company's scientific research results, such as formulas, will continuously bring economic benefits to the company in the long term, then the company can choose trade secret protection, because there is no time limit for trade secret protection
3. The possibility of obtaining a patent
my country's patent law stipulates three strict requirements for the grant of patents, namely novelty, creativity and practicality. Enterprises usually have some technological improvements or innovations, but do not meet the conditions for patents. If a company applies for a patent for these improvements or innovations, but the patent is not granted, then the technical improvements or innovations will become public knowledge and can be used by any company at will. In recent years, about 25% of patent applications have been approved in my country, which means that most of the patent applications currently accepted by the country have not been granted patents. Therefore, companies should analyze in advance the possibility of being granted patents for their scientific research results. Scientific research results with a high possibility of being patented can be protected by patents. For scientific research results with a low possibility of being patented, trade secret protection should be adopted.
4. Economic value
Since patent protection requires enterprises to pay certain patent fees to the patent department, Therefore, from the perspective of corporate interests, scientific research results with low economic value do not need to be protected by patents but should be protected by trade secrets; while products or technologies with high economic value and large market demand should apply for patent protection.
For their own scientific research results, enterprises should choose the most appropriate legal protection method for scientific research results after comprehensively considering the above four factors. The vast majority of companies, after obtaining scientific research results Afterwards, they will not hesitate to apply for patent protection for the scientific research results. It seems that once the scientific research results are patented, they are done. In fact, this is a one-sided understanding of patent protection methods. Patent protection also has serious flaws. Some companies It is because of the wrong choice of patent protection methods for scientific research results that companies lose their competitiveness and even eventually go bankrupt.
The defects of patent protection are manifested in the following four aspects:
1. Patent protection has a limited time limit
According to China's Patent Law, inventions and creations include three categories, namely inventions, utility models and designs. Among them The protection period of invention patent rights is 20 years, and the term of utility model patent rights and design patent rights is 10 years. This shows that once an invention is patented, it can only obtain legal protection for a maximum of 20 years. Beyond this period , the enterprise's inventions and technological innovations will be placed in the public domain and contributed to society free of charge. Any enterprise can use the invention or technological innovation for free.
2. Patent protection destroys confidentiality
Because when applying for a patent, the company's invention and creation must be made public and the technology becomes a publicly known technology. In this way, anyone can easily obtain the patented technology. Therefore, a patent The disclosure of technology undoubtedly provides practical conditions for unscrupulous companies to infringe patent rights.pieces.
3. Patent protection will make companies lose their competitiveness
After the scientific research results are granted a patent, other companies can Based on the patented technology, we can develop new inventions and obtain new patents. Although the company's patents are still protected by law, they are at a disadvantage compared with newer technologies and the company will lose its competitiveness.
4. Patent protection comes at a cost
Applying for a patent requires paying a certain fee, and after obtaining the patent, you also need to pay a certain fee. Pay the annual fee.
The editor’s summary ends here, if you If you have more questions in this regard, you are welcome to consult the Legal Savior Network. The Legal Savior Network provides professional legal consulting services, and a professional team of lawyers will answer your questions.
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