I am in this electrical engineering project course in which an assignment is asking me this...

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Electrical Engineering

I am in this electrical engineering project course in which anassignment is asking me this and I cannot make heads or tails ofwhat it means by this...
Discuss the tradeoffs involved between using patents and tradesecrets to protect intellectual property.
Please be as descriptive as possible,
THANKS

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When protecting innovations through patents firms face a tradeoff between disclosing information and obtaining a temporary monopoly for commercializing their inventions Since disclosing information may help competitors to develop competing innovations based on a similar technological approach firms may opt to keep their inventions secret Theoretical studies show that the choice between patenting and secrecy depends on a variety of factors including the strength of the protection instrument the nature of the innovation the ease of imitation as well as market structure firm capabilities and competitor strategies While many theoretical studies treat patenting and secrecy as substitutes for one another firm data suggest that both protection methods are used simultaneously This is not surprising if the two methods are employed for different innovations But firms may also choose to use both See Answer

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