What are the best strategies for protecting R&D inventions in different countries?

The best way to protect IP is to share the risk and rewards of protecting them. This is especially true if the patent covers more than one use case in industries that are unrelated. Identify companies that could benefit from the IP and encourage a licensing arrangement that protects the use case of the patent for their needs. Include clauses that give them favourable status as the 1st licensed user. They and all future licensees can then share risks and rewards of the IP for its duration.

Patent rights (and enforcement) can vary greatly by country. Also the time period to obtain patents are also highly variable. Depending on the technology, by the time a patent is obtained the tech may be obsolete. One needs to consider if they are willing/able to defend patent rights globally and then decide where the product will be made, sold, developed, etc. Some countries may require joint ventures to operate there, turning over your IP to a local company. If things don't go well, you may find yourself trying to protect your IP after it's already left your control and never really getting it back. That's why it's so important to work with legal counsel to anticipate problems like these and work to avoid them.

Une stratégie de protection internationale s'appuie généralement sur un brevet de base puis, dans l'année de priorité, sur une demande internationale PCT. Pour optimiser les co?ts, il peut ensuite être envisagé d'ouvrir les phases nationales dans quelques territoires qui correspondent au c?ur de marché de l'invention.

It does not seem possible to ensure not only research and development but also the entire process security and confidentiality in an environment where employees are present, no matter what precautions you take. The way to achieve this may be to minimize employee contact with the product during the process and to provide aa?tonom and automatic process control by opening selected processes only partially to employees with authorization.

Willingness and capability to enforce patented IP is often overlooked by assignees of technology. While a patent can be an effective deterrent for similar sized and smaller companies in your field, many larger organizations have active legal teams that have the resources to bury you in legal fees. Being proactive with licensing is a good strategy to avoid those situations.