What counts as public disclosure of an invention?

Broadly, making the invention available to people who are not under an obligation of confidence. That can include a conference presentation, a published paper or thesis, a trade show demonstration, a pitch competition, a product sale or offer for sale, a crowdfunding page, a public code repository, or a social media post that reveals how the invention works.

Does an NDA prevent disclosure from becoming public?

A properly drafted confidentiality agreement, signed before the discussion and covering the subject matter, is the usual way to share an invention without making it public. What matters is that the obligation existed at the time of the disclosure and that the material shared falls within it. Verbal assurances and after-the-fact agreements are much weaker positions.

I have already disclosed my invention. Is it too late to patent it?

Not necessarily, but it is now a question for a qualified patent professional rather than a self-assessment. Some jurisdictions provide limited grace periods or exceptions in defined circumstances, and their scope varies. The practical step is to document exactly what was disclosed, when, to whom and in what form, and take that record into professional advice promptly.

Should I file before presenting at a conference?

Where the presentation will describe how the invention works, filing before the presentation is the conventional way to preserve options. Where the presentation is genuinely high-level and reveals no enabling detail, the position may differ. This is a judgement to make with a patent professional, not on the morning of the talk.

Does my own earlier disclosure count against me?

Your own prior public disclosure can form part of the state of the art in many systems, which is why inventors are sometimes surprised to find their own paper or demonstration cited. Treat your own publication history with the same seriousness you would treat a competitor's.

Public disclosure before patent filing

Most inventors do not lose their options through carelessness. They lose them through ordinary, well-intentioned activity: a demo, a talk, a pitch, a paper — done before anyone framed it as a disclosure decision.

By Raja Muhazam Farid, IP & Patent Practitioner · Updated January 2026 · 7 min read

Short answer

Public disclosure is making your invention available to people who owe you no duty of confidence. Because patent systems assess an invention against what was already available to the public, disclosure before filing can narrow or remove your options. Before you disclose anything further, write down what has already been shown, when, to whom and in what detail — then take that record to a qualified patent professional.

Why disclosure matters at all

A patent is granted for something that was not already available to the public. That is why the timeline of what you said and showed is not administrative trivia: it defines the body of material against which your invention is judged. The uncomfortable part is that this body can include your own earlier activity.

The disclosures inventors overlook

Pitch competitions and demo days. Slides are often recorded, published, or shared with an audience under no confidentiality obligation.
Conference papers, posters and theses. Academic dissemination is designed to be public; a deposited thesis is frequently the clearest disclosure in a file.
Trade shows and prototypes. If the working principle can be seen or deduced from the exhibit, showing the object can disclose the invention.
Sales and offers for sale. Commercial activity before filing can matter in several jurisdictions, including quiet early sales to a first customer.
Online material. Crowdfunding pages, product documentation, public repositories, forum answers and video walkthroughs are all durable and dated.
Grant and award applications. Some schemes publish abstracts of funded work.

Build a disclosure log before you need one

A disclosure log is a short table maintained from the beginning of the project. For each event, record the date, the audience, whether an obligation of confidence was in place, the form of the disclosure, and — critically — the level of technical detail revealed. There is a meaningful difference between saying that a device reduces energy loss and explaining the mechanism by which it does so.

Confidentiality done properly

Where you must discuss the invention before filing — with a manufacturer, a potential licensee, a collaborator or a supplier — the ordinary route is a written confidentiality agreement signed before the discussion, covering the subject matter and the people who will receive it. Keep a copy with the disclosure log. Investors sometimes decline to sign; the answer then is to control the level of detail rather than to assume goodwill.

If disclosure has already happened

Do not conclude on your own that the position is fatal, and do not assume it is fine. Some systems provide limited exceptions or grace periods in defined circumstances, with conditions and time limits that differ by jurisdiction and that interact with any foreign filing plans. That combination is precisely what a qualified patent professional is for. Bring the log, bring the artefacts, and go early — several of these mechanisms are time-bound.

What to do next

Stop adding new public detail until the position is understood. Assemble the log. Decide whether the technical work is far enough along that a filing would describe the invention properly — that is a separate question, addressed in is my invention developed enough to patent. Then make the filing decision deliberately rather than reactively.

Frequently asked questions

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Map your disclosure history before you decide

INVENTION GO/NO-GO™ is a 27-page, 100-point pre-patent readiness workbook covering six decision dimensions and returning one of four outcomes: GO, GO WITH CAUTION, HOLD, or NO-GO FOR NOW.

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INVENTION GO/NO-GO™ is an educational decision-support tool. It is not legal advice, not a patentability opinion, and not a substitute for professional legal or patent advice. Assessment of patentability requires a qualified patent professional.

Raja Muhazam Farid

IP & Patent Practitioner

Raja Muhazam Farid works on intellectual property and patent matters, with a focus on the decisions inventors and organisations make before filing: whether an invention is clear enough, developed enough, and commercially justified enough to move forward. RAMUHA INNOVATION publishes decision-support material based on that practical vantage point.

This page is general information for decision-making purposes. It is not legal advice and does not assess the patentability of any particular invention.