Publication

A significant milestone in the life of a patent application.  Publication of a patent application typically occurs about 18 months after the first patent application for an invention has been filed, before any patent has been granted.  It is possible to request that the application is published earlier than this.  It is also possible to prevent publication by withdrawing the application before it is published.  Although the patent specification is kept confidential by the patent office before publication, after publication the details about how to perform the invention and the scope of protection being sought, will be publicly available.  The date on which a patent application is initially published can be significant when damages are assessed should a patent ultimately be granted and subsequently enforced.