Patents are vital for moving new inventions and discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace.  However, securing strong patents worldwide is expensive and difficult, and one of the most common pitfalls is to treat patents as a commodity or an expense where costs should be minimized, rather than as a significant value driver for the business.  This talk will not only look at the basics of patenting, but also discuss how patents are filed and prosecuted in internationally, and some of the more common pitfalls.