Can inventions be sold without patent application?

"But they didn't cooperate with me after reading the paper, but did it by themselves according to the design of the paper." So, you accuse them of infringing your copyright, but you have no proof because you don't want to publish something of this value. Of course, if it is published, you can't apply for a patent, because it has lost its novelty! So apply for a patent first, and then talk about cooperation!