Publish or Perish? The Balance Between Public Disclosure and IP Protection in Scientific Research | JD Supra Perspectives - JDSupra

"Investors conducting due diligence of patent portfolios should consider the following:

• Ask for the dates of possible early disclosures including journal abstracts, meeting abstracts, posters, discussions in online forums.
• Ask for detailed information regarding any submissions to preprint servers, Academia.edu or any similar online service.
• Add preprint servers to the list of searching tools when evaluating validity.
• Check to see if any preprints identified above were also disclosed to the U.S. Patent & Trademark during patent prosecution as part of the inventor/applicant’s duty of disclosure.

As avenues for digital distribution multiply, pitfalls for preserving intellectual property rights also multiply. Keeping these tips in mind will help reduce the risk of inadvertent disclosure and loss of rights."