Protecting Your Ideas

Protecting Your Ideas

by Joy L. Bryant
Released October 1998
Publisher(s): Academic Press
ISBN: 9780080515274

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Book description

Intellectual property law is currently exploding, as demonstrated by the growth of technology transfer offices in universities. More and more scientists, companies, and institutions are rushing to secure intellectual property rights for their ideas and inventions. This process frustrates many people; patent laws are constantly changing, and most books about them are either overly technical or boring.

Protecting Your Ideas: The Inventor's Guide to Patents is a succinct, straightforward guide to the system. This guide presents the steps involved in obtaining patent protection for inventions. It is easy to read and brimming with essential information and advice compounded from FAQs posed by the author's academic and industrial clientele. The text includes tips, warnings, and examples that guide the reader through the invention process so patent rights are not jeopardized. Checklists and other helpful information are provided to assist the inventor preparing to enter the patent process. The book includes valuable resource information and business guidance to protect the inventor from consumer fraud that is sometimes associated with the patent process. Protecting and Idea is a must read for every engineer, scientist, or amateur inventor.

Key Features
* Simple, easy-to-read format demystifies the patent process
* Numerous example patents help to illustrate the issues involved
* Provides an overview of the types of intellectual property protection
* Incorporates up-to-date information about U.S. patent laws
* Advises inventors about the do's and don'ts of patenting
* Includes useful resources for helping inventors safeguard their ideas

Table of contents

  1. Front Cover
  2. Protecting Your Ideas: The Inventor's Guide to Patents
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents (1/2)
  5. Contents (2/2)
  6. Preface
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Chapter 1. Choose the Right Protection
    1. What Is Meant by the Term "Intellectual Property"?
    2. What Are Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Patents?
    3. How Have These Forms of Intellectual Property Protection Evolved in the U.S.?
    4. More Information about Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Patents (1/6)
    5. More Information about Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Patents (2/6)
    6. More Information about Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Patents (3/6)
    7. More Information about Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Patents (4/6)
    8. More Information about Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Patents (5/6)
    9. More Information about Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Patents (6/6)
    10. Review
    11. Annotated References
  9. Chapter 2.The Types of Patents and Patent Applications
    1. U.S. Patents
    2. Foreign Patents (1/3)
    3. Foreign Patents (2/3)
    4. Foreign Patents (3/3)
    5. Review
    6. Annotated References
  10. Chapter 3. The Invention Process
    1. What Is the Invention Process?
    2. The United States: A First to Invent Country
    3. Proving Conception, Reduction to Practice, and Diligence
    4. Review
    5. Annotated References
  11. Chapter 4. Documenting Your Ideas
    1. Laboratory Notebooks
    2. Keeping a Laboratory Notebook
    3. The Business and Legal Reasons for Keeping a Notebook
    4. Review
  12. Chapter 5. Researching Your Ideas
    1. Searching the Literature
    2. Conducting a Search
    3. A Brief Word about Prototyping the Invention
    4. Review
  13. Chapter 6. Protect Yourself
    1. Avoid Statutory Bars
    2. Review
    3. Annotated References
  14. Chapter 7. Preparing the Patent Application
    1. Representing Yourself
    2. Patent Practitioners
    3. Preparing for an Effective Practitioner Interview
    4. The Requirements for Patentability
    5. Preparing the Regular Utility Patent Application (1/2)
    6. Preparing the Regular Utility Patent Application (2/2)
    7. Review
    8. Annotated References
  15. Chapter 8. Filing and Prosecuting the Patent Application
    1. Filing the Patent Application
    2. The Information Disclosure Statement
    3. Patent Pending Status (1/2)
    4. Patent Pending Status (2/2)
    5. Accelerating the Patent Process
    6. Review
    7. Annotated References
  16. Chapter 9. Deciding to Patent
    1. Why Are People Interested in Patenting?
    2. The Cost of Patenting
    3. Making Money with a Patent (1/2)
    4. Making Money with a Patent (2/2)
    5. Preventing Others from Getting a Patent
    6. Review
    7. Annotated References
  17. Appendix I. Resources
  18. Appendix II. Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries
  19. Appendix III. Tips Regarding Invention Development Firms
  20. Appendix IV. What the Patent Practitioner Needs
  21. Index (1/2)
  22. Index (2/2)

Product information

  • Title: Protecting Your Ideas
  • Author(s): Joy L. Bryant
  • Release date: October 1998
  • Publisher(s): Academic Press
  • ISBN: 9780080515274