The Best‑Kept Secret in IP: How U.S. Strategy Lets Innovators Have It All
Thanks to strategies developed by one of our own, our club secretary, John Moetteli, an international IP attorney and Adjunct Professor teaching in the CAS Masters in Intellectual Property program of Zurich University (ZHAW), you do not have to accept the traditional assumption that innovators must choose between patent protection and trade secrecy. Instead, there exists a sophisticated, largely unknown U.S.-centric filing strategy that allows innovators to “have it all”: preserve trade secrets, retain patent rights, defer costs, and extend protection horizons.
At its core, the strategy leverages three uniquely American mechanisms: non‑publication “Submarine” applications (only available for those who file first in the US), rolling provisional “mini‑Sub” filings, and late‑filed divisional design patents (“UFOs”, for Unidentifiable Filed Ornamentals). Together, these tools eliminate the forced trade-off between disclosure and protection. By filing first in the United States with a non‑publication request, innovators can maintain strict confidentiality indefinitely while preserving enforceable patent rights—something impossible under Europe’s mandatory 18‑month publication regime.
The advantages are substantial. First, cost control: innovators avoid the “deadline-driven cost explosions” of international filings, translations, and annuities until commercial viability is proven. Second, strategic flexibility: decisions about global filings can be deferred until market data, funding, and competitive intelligence are clearer. Third, risk mitigation: a Submarine application provides a fallback if trade secrets are later lost, reducing the fragility inherent in secrecy alone.
Most strikingly, the combined Submarine + UFO design approach enables extended protection beyond the conventional 20-year patent term, with design rights timed to surface strategically and enforceable for 15 years from grant.
For IP practitioners accustomed to rigid publication systems, this hybrid model represents a paradigm shift: a legally sound, economically efficient framework that maximizes optionality while minimizing premature disclosure.
Contact John directly if you have any questions. His email is moetteli@davincipartners.com.