A patent gives you a competitive advantage. It can safeguard a newly developed product against copying and help generate a better financial return.

You can use patents to prevent other individuals or companies exploiting your inventions. By protecting your products in this way, you will be able to sell them without having to compete with other suppliers on price for up to 20  years.

When a patent has been granted, the period of protection is retrospective, counting from the date of application. This deters anyone from copying a product that is the subject of a patent application, as doing so may result in liability for damages should the application be successful. This means an important competitive advantage can be gained as soon as an application has been submitted if you clearly indicate on the product that a patent has been applied for.