# Depatent

Depatent is the defensive-publication path in the Patentomania ecosystem. It helps inventors publish enabling, dated, examiner-findable public-domain technical disclosures so later patent claims on the same invention lose novelty.

## Decision

Patent when the inventor wants exclusive rights. Depatent when the inventor wants to stop anyone, including themselves, from patenting the same idea later.

## Key Pages

- [Publish](https://depatent.com/publish): Full web publish flow with enablement gate and typed PUBLISH confirmation.
- [Browse](https://depatent.com/browse): Public, crawlable published-only disclosure index.
- [Trust](https://depatent.com/trust): Data-exposure and irreversibility guardrails.

## Learn

- [What is a defensive publication?](https://depatent.com/learn/what-is-a-defensive-publication): A defensive publication is a public technical disclosure intended to become prior art. If it is dated, enabling, and findable, it can stop later patent claims on the same invention.
- [Patent or depatent?](https://depatent.com/learn/patent-or-depatent): Patent when you want exclusive rights and can afford the time, novelty search, and prosecution path. Depatent when you only need to prevent others from owning the same idea.
- [Why findability matters](https://depatent.com/learn/why-findability-matters): A defensive publication only helps if examiners, patent searchers, and AI research tools can find it. Login walls, vague titles, and missing metadata can make good prior art practically invisible.

## Comparisons

- [Depatent vs IP.com](https://depatent.com/vs/ip-com)
- [Depatent vs TDCommons](https://depatent.com/vs/tdcommons)
- [Depatent vs Research Disclosure](https://depatent.com/vs/research-disclosure)
- [Depatent vs Self-publishing](https://depatent.com/vs/self-publishing)

## Full Context

- [llms-full.txt](https://depatent.com/llms-full.txt)