Of patenting's costs and benefits

Patenting one's own ideas is not necessarily expensive. Indeed, it might save large sums of money and, in addition, provide benefits as a sales argument. Further, it may deter others from imitating a successful design, and constitute a means of preventing competitors from obtaining a valid protective right when they try to file a patent on the same idea later on. This paper sketches a defensive policy for realizing these advantages for a relatively low outlay.

Keywords:

• Patent
• Defence
• Economy