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Again, the most conservative advice is to keep it secret for as long as you can. A lot of people can’t do that or don’t want to do that, so then at least file a patent application. The lesser step is at least file a provisional patent application, so at least you can record the date of your invention. A provisional application never becomes a patent, but at least you can say that you got there first.

But if you can, file a normal, regular utility patent application, which will be pending in the patent office. The idea there is that if someone wants to copy your invention. And it’s not extremely simple. They’re less likely to put a lot of money into copying your invention if they see that you have a pending patent application, and down the road a patent will issue, and then you can stop them from doing whatever they’ve been doing.