When does patent protection start?

When does patent protection start?

Well once your patent application has been filed, then you can tell other people about your invention, provided that all the features of your invention have been disclosed in your patent application and you continue with the patent application procedure. But you can only sue someone under your granted patent once it's been granted. But you do have some provisional protection from the time that the patent application is published, which is usually 18 months after you first filed for patent protection, and that allows you to claim damages back from someone who is infringing your patent in respect to the time between publication and grant.