Suggestion of Patenting -The patent application, with its accompanying description and the deposited material, is held secret in the early stages only for a short time, after which the application must be published. In many countries (particularly in Europe, e.g. Germany), the process of granting patent starts 18 months after the publication of the application.

However, the application can be withdrawn before publication, if the assessment suggests that the patent may not be granted. The publication gives advantage to applicant's competitors, who can use this information for developing an improved process or product.

(i) the loss of effective control on the microorganism and its uses;

(ii) irrevocable loss of the option to revert back to trade secrecy, if patent is not granted;

(iii) possibility of circumvention of the patent protection, by other competitors of the applicant through genetic modification of the deposited microorganism. Some efforts are being made to overcome this problem associated with the European Patent Law.