TRADE SECRETS VS. PATENTS: CHOOSING THE RIGHT PROTECTION

The only kind of rights in the field of intellectual property law that safeguard innovations and company confidential information are patents and trade secrets. As a new form of intellectual property, trade secrets are very important and are gaining widespread attention because, in the age of globalization, any company's success depends on its secrets. As a result, one must make sure that he adequately protects his business-related confidential information from his competitors. In exchange for complete public disclosure of the invention, patents grant you the exclusive right to earn a monopoly and financial benefits from the innovation as well as the exclusive right to prevent others from producing, selling, using, or importing a certain good or service. Thus, trade secrets and patents may protect the same information and. The decision between the two is based on whether the innovation can be kept hidden indefinitely, which favours trade secrets, or whether it can easily reverse-engineered, which favours patents. Every approach has unique benefits and drawbacks of its own. In order to choose the best strategy for safeguarding an inventor's intellectual property, this chapter examines the main distinctions between the two.
Key words : patent, trade secrets, intellectual property, intellectual property rights