Whether to upload a conference paper?

Question

I am going to a (large) conference this summer, and participants are expected to upload their papers so the chair, the discussant and the conference-goers can read them beforehand. Today, I received an email reminding us to upload the papers before the deadline and noted that if anybody has reservations about uploading, they can send their papers directly to the chair and the discussant. They also mentioned that the paper won't be published anywhere and will just be available to the conference people (they can obviously download it, etc).

I was a little intrigued because I had never had reservations, and now I am thinking about whether I should. After the conference, I will send this paper to the journal(s).

Hence, the question, why would anybody have reservations about uploading their conference paper? What are the pros and cons, if there are any?

Answer 1

I would guess that it doesn't really matter unless you discuss things in the paper but anticipate filing a patent (especially in the US, where the rules have changed). Either uploading for conference attendees or just for the committee establish your priority as well as making your copyright visible. You have evidence of priority if it is needed.

You will be making the ideas public in any presentation in any case.

For patents in the US, the recent "First to File" rules complicate this for patentable things ("devices"). In that case, see a lawyer before you publicize your ideas.