In the US, you have a one-year grace period from the date of your first public disclosure (selling, offering to sell, or publishing) to file your patent application. Missing that deadline means your potential patent rights become ghostly. You won’t be able to receive a patent, and that means you won’t be able to stop others from making or selling it. Filing before public disclosure is the silver bullet to protect your invention. Using non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, can help you keep your invention private until you’re ready to make it public and have legal remedies if anyone who signed it violates the terms.
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