Japanese Patent Attorney Fumimaru Yuguchi Shounan-lab.

If you inadvertently share your know-how with others

"I was taken advantage of order by the client and talked about our know-how..."

Many small business owners will tend to talk about it against their will when they are told by their customer, "If you don't tell us your know-how, we will place an order with another company."

If you talk about know-how, we recommend that you do the following three things.

1. Document what you said in as much detail as possible, take it to the notary public office, set a fixed date, and keep it in a safe so that it will not be lost.
2. Ask a patent attorney to promptly apply for a patent for the know-how that you have talked about.
3. Conclude a confidentiality agreement with the other party who has shared the know-how (naturally, include the ideas you talked about).

At least the worst case of being exercised after being patented by another person needs to be prevented.

Know-how management is meaningful only if we can take measures after it leaks out.