By: Atty. Gregorio B. Austral, CPA
Innovative ideas must be kept secret prior to registration
There are things that are best kept in secrecy rather than shared with the public.
But there are things also that need to be shared with the public since the state has a
compelling interest in its disclosure. The first may refer to purely private information
which the law protects against unintended or coerced disclosure while the second may
refer to an invention made by a person.
An invention is a technical solution to a problem in any field of human activity
which is new, involves an inventive step, and is industrially applicable. This is the
definition of the law for patentable inventions. Since an invention is a technical solution
to a problem, its disclosure and availability to the public is encouraged. To encourage
disclosure and sharing of the invention, the law allows a temporary period of monopoly
for the inventor to enjoy the benefits of his ingenuity. This is done through patent
rights whereby the inventor is granted the exclusive right over his invention.
The rule adopted in the Philippines and most other countries, however,
discourages the inventor from sharing his invention with the public prematurely without
first securing the protection under the law. This is because patent rights are granted
only on the date of filing the application for a patent and not at the moment of creation
or invention. This is called the “First-to-File” rule which gives preference to the person
who filed his application for a patent first but may not be the person who actually made
the invention.
The risk that an inventor faces when his invention is disclosed to the public
without patent protection is that he is giving the public a chance to copy his invention
with impunity since, once disclosed to the public without a patent, the invention will
now become part of the public domain.
It is therefore prudent for inventors never to disclose his invention unless he has
filed an application for patent. The eagerness to flaunt one’s inventiveness to the
public is an invitation to a scheming or enterprising person to own the right over a thing
that he has never invented in the first place.