Defensive Publication

An intentional public disclosure of an invention made with the primary goal of creating prior art, thereby preventing anyone from obtaining a patent for that invention.

This strategy is typically used when an invention is not considered to be valuable enough to justify the costs of patenting or maintaining as a trade secret, but where it is nonetheless desirable to prevent competitors from obtaining a patent that could restrict Freedom to Operate (FTO).

To be effective, a defensive publication must be publicly accessible and contain sufficient detail to enable a person skilled in the art to reproduce the invention. Ideally, the publication channel should reliably establish the publication date, be sufficiently reputable that the authenticity of the publication can't be questioned, and also be easily discoverable by patent examiners (though prior art can also be brought to an examiner's attention using mechanisms such as third-party observations).

It should be kept in mind that making a defensive publication will also likely prevent you from subsequently securing a patent for the invention yourself should you later change your mind.