Interesting regarding how inventors value pre-approval secrecy.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150115142225.htm
Summary
"Common wisdom and prior economic research suggest that an inventor
filing a patent would want to keep the technical know-how secret as long
as possible. But a new study of nearly 2 million patents in the United
States shows that inventors are not as concerned with secrecy as
previously thought. Researchers found that since 2000, most inventors
when given the choice opted to disclose information about their patents
before patent approval -- even small inventors -- and this disclosure
correlates with more valuable patents."
Also
"Another major complaint of the AIPA was that disclosing patent secrets
would stop the engine of innovation in the United States and that
society would get less meaningful inventions. Contrary to these
arguments, the researchers found that patents born out of secrecy were
overall less valuable than those that opted for disclosure."
