It's the other way around. The original intent of patents is to disclose the making of a device to the public domain in exchange for an exclusive royalty and ev

It's the other way around. The original intent of patents is to disclose the making of a device to the public domain in exchange for an exclusive royalty and eventually, after a certain amount of time, for the device to become public domain. Since the royalty is exclusive it means that you are the only one that is allowed to profit from the patent and here comes the defendability of patents. However if you really want to protect something then, by all means, keep it secret. Coca-Cola and Pepsi formulas are kept secret and will not be patented, for example.