This post is part of our Ask Me Anything series “IP Law for Femtech Founders” with Marshall, Gerstein & Borun Giordana Mahn.
I was wondering why would I file for a patent if I can just keep my tech a trade secret?
You want to file a patent to protect your technology if that technology can be reverse-engineered, and replicated just by having the product. Trade secrets do not expire like patents do, but trade secrets are vulnerable in that there is no protection if the technology can be reverse-engineered. Failure to take reasonable efforts to maintain their secrecy does not exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing your technology if they figure it out themselves. A trade secret is useful for maintaining a monopoly over a recipe, for example.
DISCLAIMER: These comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Giordana Mahn’s firm of Marshall, Gerstein & Borun or its clients, and should not be relied upon as legal advice for any particular situations. Providing these responses is not intended to and should not be considered as reflecting an attorney-client relationship.
