"It doesn't have to be patented. We can hide it as know-how like Coca-Cola."
The term of the patent right is 20 years from the filing, so it is true that keeping it secret as know-how is more profitable than applying for a patent, if the product is difficuilt to reverse-engineer (disassemble and analyze the product to clarify the technical contents such as manufacturing method and operating principle).
However, if the president or the top of the technology is extremely light-hearted and talks about know-how to business partners as soon as alcohol is added, apply for a patent if the know-how leaks out and everything is ruined. It's much better to keep it. In addition, no matter how thoroughly the know-how is managed in-house, if a competitor accidentally invents the same invention, the know-how becomes meaningless. Whether to protect our technology by patent or as know-how (trade secret) is not decided by general theory, and it is necessary to select it according to the environment inside and outside the company.