Comparison of patents and trade secrets as possible ways of protecting intellectual property rights

Comparison of patents and trade secrets as possible ways of protecting intellectual property rights Abstract The thesis Comparison of patents and trade secrets as possible ways of protecting intellectual property rights compares the institutes of patents and trade secrets and highlights their individual positives and negatives. It first addresses the question of whether both protection through patents and trade secrets can be alternatively applied to the same subject matter. Subsequently, since in the case of patents, the law specifies the subject matter which cannot benefit from such protection, it discusses whether or not it would be appropriate and possible to protect those particular subject matters through trade secrets. The thesis also compares the various defining features of the two institutes. The second part discusses the differences in the acquisition and disposition of patents and trade secrets, focusing on the process of obtaining patents, the scope of protection afforded by a given intellectual property right, and the ways in which these forms of protection are extinguished and revoked. This highlights the administrative and financial complexity that accompanies protection through patents as opposed to the informalized protection of trade secrets. In the last part of the thesis, the..