First of all, I don't know if you have applied for a patent for the "invention a year ago", or if you just have the technology without applying for a patent.
If you have applied for a patent, don't worry. The examiner in the real patent trial stage will retrieve your patent application documents and evaluate the creativity of the patent application with your patent documents. The premise of this situation is that the technical scheme disclosed in your patent application can undermine the creativity of the patent application.
If you don't apply for a patent, it depends on whether your technical solution has entered the well-known technical field. If there is evidence that it has entered, it can be used to declare the patent application invalid. If the technical scheme is kept secret, it will be difficult, hehe.
I think the lowest cost is to wait and see. Because not all invention patent applications can be authorized, the patent is only in the application stage, and it remains to be seen whether it can be authorized or not.
From a commercial point of view, if you haven't applied for a patent for this technology, and the patent application is finally authorized, I think the best way is to "win-win", that is, to find ways to make full use of the patent right, so that both you and the patentee can benefit without losing the patent right, so that the technology can enter the public domain and be used for free.