You may be wondering if you can obtain a patent and keep it a secret.  The short answer to this question is no.  Patents are granted by the patent office in exchange for full disclosure of the invention.  The details of the inventions are published and then made available to the public.    Publication takes place at various stages of the patent procedure.  The patent document is only published after the patent is granted in some countries.  In other countries, patent applications are generally published 18 months from the filing date or the priority date.

           You might also wonder if you can discuss the details of your invention with an investor before filing the application.  The answer to this is also no.  It is important to fila a patent application before your publicly disclose the details of the invention.  Any invention which is made public before an application would be

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