There are two disadvantages.
The first is that the applicant will wind up forfeiting "provisional rights" (as described in the prior post). Remember, provisional rights are only obtainable between the point in time that the patent application is published and the point in time that the patent application issues. Therefore, if the application never publishes due to a request for non-publication, the applicant will not receive the benefit of provisional rights.
A second disadvantage relates to magnifying the effects of the Applicant's carelessness. In order to request non-publication, the patent applicant must certify that his invention has not and will not become the subject of a patent application in another country that already requires publication 18 months after the date of filing. However, what if the Applicant forgets that they made this certification when filing the U.S. patent application, and then later chooses to file a patent application on the same technology in a foreign country that requires such a publication? This may be perceived as inequitable conduct (lying to the patent office) and grounds for invalidating the U.S. patent.
The first is that the applicant will wind up forfeiting "provisional rights" (as described in the prior post). Remember, provisional rights are only obtainable between the point in time that the patent application is published and the point in time that the patent application issues. Therefore, if the application never publishes due to a request for non-publication, the applicant will not receive the benefit of provisional rights.
A second disadvantage relates to magnifying the effects of the Applicant's carelessness. In order to request non-publication, the patent applicant must certify that his invention has not and will not become the subject of a patent application in another country that already requires publication 18 months after the date of filing. However, what if the Applicant forgets that they made this certification when filing the U.S. patent application, and then later chooses to file a patent application on the same technology in a foreign country that requires such a publication? This may be perceived as inequitable conduct (lying to the patent office) and grounds for invalidating the U.S. patent.
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