1. The patent is open and the proprietary technology is secret. According to the provisions of the patent laws of various countries, when applying for a patent right, the inventor must disclose the invention content in the patent application, and the patent authority shall publish it in the official patent announcement and make it public. Proprietary technology is as confidential as possible, and once it loses confidentiality, it cannot be protected by law.
2. The patent right has a certain period of protection. As mentioned above, according to the provisions of the patent laws of various countries, its validity period is generally 15 or 20 years. However, there is no problem with the protection period of know-how. As long as it is strictly confidential, not leaked out and not known to the public, it will be protected. However, once it is made public, anyone can use it. Therefore, in the licensing of proprietary technology, there are generally confidentiality clauses, which require the licensee to undertake confidentiality obligations and not to disclose the contents of proprietary technology to a third party.
3. Patent right is an industrial property right, which is protected by the patent law of relevant countries, while proprietary technology is technical knowledge without patent right. It is not protected according to the provisions of patent law, but mainly according to the relevant provisions of civil law, criminal law and unfair competition law.
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