Before you publish – any patent must be filed before the first public disclosure of the invention. A good time to contact the Innovation Office is when you are starting to prepare a draft paper on the work.
We will always try to work within your timescales for publication. If you come and talk to us at an early stage, it makes this much easier and the patent will be of better quality.
A patent also needs to include as full a description as possible of the technology, and at least some working examples.