Patent it or keep it as a trade secret - overview:

• U.S. patent protection provides a right to exclude others from making, using and selling the patented subject in the U.S. for a limited time period.

• Patent protection obliges the public dissemination of information embodied in the application, which must enable others to practice the invention and must disclose the best mode of practicing the invention.

• The public is free to practice the invention when a patent expires.  It has a set maximum longevity.

• Trade secret protection has no set time limit.  Its longevity is potentially unlimited.

• Trade secret protection is lost if safeguards to maintain the secrecy are not sufficient.

• Trademark secret protection is worthless against another's independent development.

• Patent protection is enforceable against later independent development.

• An election of trade secret protection, rather than patent protection, is usually irreversible, precluding the later filing of a patent application.

• A patent application can be filed while maintaining trade secret protection if non-publication is requested at the time of filing, preserving the trade secret option and deferring the election until the time, if ever, a patent could issue.  more

• Is a 'patent or trade secret it' consultation worth the cost?  That is always a business decision.