I had to deal with that question in my profession. The answer is it depends. I think you missed my point earlier. Competition will learn from your patent and this is key....then CHANGE and thing or two just enough to break away from the patent. You just managed to help others learn from your hard work and take it to the next level with some alterations. Surprising how slight these alterations can be to escape patent issues.
So if what you have is extremely difficult to figure out and tool for, then keeping quiet with no patent may indeed be the wise decision as it is highly unlikely competition will be able to respond in a timely manner.
So if what you have is extremely difficult to figure out and tool for, then keeping quiet with no patent may indeed be the wise decision as it is highly unlikely competition will be able to respond in a timely manner.