To exploit commercial value, a company must be able monopolize their information technology for as long as possible. Software and circuit topography used within an information technology application are protected by legislation but this does not protect the broader information technologies in current use Information technology is generally protected in one of two ways. Some companies choose to obtain a patent, which will allow them to stop competitors from using their technology for a period of 20 years. The alternative to patent protection is to control access to the technological information by keeping it a trade secret. These two methods of protecting information technology are fundamentally different.
Patents rely on rights granted by legislation to stop others from using the technology.
Trade secret rely on no disclosure, contracts and rules developed by the courts to protect confidential information. In general, patent protection requires that the technology must be a new, useful and innovative product or process. Patents are not available for an obvious product or process. Improvements to an existing patent may be parented, but this does not grant the right to use the original patent unless consent has been obtained from the original patent holder. If unprotected technology is disclosed to the public by the inventor, a patent application must be made within a year or it will be barred.