Patent, trade secret, or other form of protection: a difficult choice

The patent was established during the French Revolution to protect inventions—known as the “source of the arts”—and their improvements. “If there is one thing that truly belongs to a man, it is his thought,” argued Chevalier de Boufflers in his report to the National Assembly on December 30, 1790. Replacing privileges and championing the creative spirit of inventors, the patent has spread over the centuries as a fundamental value. Taking on different nuances from one legal culture to another, it establishes everywhere a pact between society and the inventors whose genius it seeks to foster and protect. It allows the inventor to enjoy local and temporary exclusive rights to their invention—prohibiting third parties from using, manufacturing, or selling it—in exchange for the disclosure of the technical and industrial knowledge it embodies.

L’Actualité chimique Issue 477
October 2022

Link to the article