The question you’re probably missing is why are trade secrets better. Because when you file a patent, it must include all the detail necessary to reproduce the idea, not just disclosing the idea but also how to make it.

Usually the complexity in a thing is not the thing itself, but the way it is made, so if the method of making it remains a secret, it is much more difficult to copy.

A good implementation example is the Phillips screw. They weren’t the first to think of it and anyone looking at it would be able to copy it. The ingenuity was that they were the first to come up with a way to manufacture them cheaply. I don’t know if they patented that method, but if they did, then the method would be exposed to all. Or if they kept it a trade secret, others would have to figure it out on their own, which is harder and more expensive.

I mean… patents are published with instructions for building it … they’re on the internet… china uses the same internet… 🤷🏽‍♂️

Patents are effectively useless for protecting your idea.