Books : Nonfiction : Law : Intellectual Property : Patent, Trademark & Copyright

Useful tips and step-by-step guidance from filing to issue to license

Acquire and protect your share of this major business asset

Want to secure and exploit the intellectual property rights due you or your company? This easy-to-follow guide shows you how — helping you to evaluate your idea's commercial potential, conduct patent and trademark searches, document the invention process, license your IP rights, and comply with international laws. Plus, you get detailed examples of each patent application type!

Discover how to:

• Avoid application blunders
• Register trademarks and copyrights
• Meet patent requirements
• Navigate complex legal issues
• Protect your rights abroad

• The entire body of U.S. patent laws

• Example office actions and amendments

• Sample forms

• Trademark registration certificates

• Application worksheets

See the CD appendix for details and complete system requirements.

From "the most important thinker on intellectual property in the Internet era" (The New Yorker), a landmark manifesto about the genuine closing of the American mind.

Lawrence Lessig could be called a cultural environmentalist. One of America's most original and influential public intellectuals, his focus is the social dimension of creativity: how creative work builds on the past and how society encourages or inhibits that building with laws and technologies. In his two previous books, Code and The Future of Ideas, Lessig concentrated on the destruction of much of the original promise of the Internet. Now, in Free Culture, he widens his focus to consider the diminishment of the larger public domain of ideas. In this powerful wake-up call he shows how short-sighted interests blind to the long-term damage they're inflicting are poisoning the ecosystem that fosters innovation.

All creative works-books, movies, records, software, and so on-are a compromise between what can be imagined and what is possible-technologically and legally. For more than two hundred years, laws in America have sought a balance between rewarding creativity and allowing the borrowing from which new creativity springs. The original term of copyright set by the Constitution in 1787 was seventeen years. Now it is closer to two hundred. Thomas Jefferson considered protecting the public against overly long monopolies on creative works an essential government role. What did he know that we've forgotten?

Lawrence Lessig shows us that while new technologies always lead to new laws, never before have the big cultural monopolists used the fear created by new technologies, specifically the Internet, to shrink the public domain of ideas, even as the same corporations use the same technologies to control more and more what we can and can't do with culture. As more and more culture becomes digitized, more and more becomes controllable, even as laws are being toughened at the behest of the big media groups. What's at stake is our freedom-freedom to create, freedom to build, and ultimately, freedom to imagine.

What do all of these famous inventions have in common: air conditioning, airbags, bandages, barbed wire, blow dryers, can openers, cement, chewing gum, computers, credit cards, doughnuts, jeans, microwave ovens, paper towels, Play-Doh, Post-it Notes, potato chips, roller coasters, safety pins, Scotch tape, skateboards, staplers, straws, sunscreen, typewriters, Viagra, zippers? They were all invented in the US by American inventors, and they all went on to make fortunes for the inventors and those companies licensing the ideas. Don t be left out, and don t spend thousands in unnecessary legal fees, you can file your own patent with the step-by-step guidance in this new book. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the number of patents filed in the US increased from 186,507 in 1992 to 406,302 in 2005. Approximately one out of five patents are filed by the prospective owner/inventor. You ll find that only minimal assistance if any is needed from an attorney or agent in securing your patent. This book offers a simple, straightforward introduction to patent law written in layman s terms. This book is written for inventors not attorneys, and for those that want to save thousands on legal fees protecting their ideas and inventions. A patent protects an invention and gives an exclusive right to the benefits of an invention. A patent is in essence a contract between the United States government and holder of an invention. This new book will explain how to secure a patent on your own without expensive attorney fees. If you think you have a great invention then you need this extremely detailed and comprehensive guide to the process of getting a patent. The book covers everything needed and easily explained from the initial patent search to filing a successful and hopefully financially lucrative application. Even if you ultimately decide to use the services of a patent attorney which in some cases is recommended, this book will get the process started and still

Take the first step to protecting your invention!

Ready to stamp "patent pending" on your invention? Then you need to file a provisional patent application (PPA), an inexpensive way to claim your hard work. With a PPA, you'll have time to figure out whether you can make a profit from your creation before you invest more time and money.

With Patent Pending in 24 Hours, you have all the forms and information you need to get the job done! Find out how to:

*evaluate hurdles to patentability
*write a clear PPA
*prepare informal drawings of your invention
*conduct a patent search online
*understand basic patent law
*complete all forms required by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
*file your application
*modify your invention after filing

The book also includes important legal forms to help you preserve your rights when showing or selling your invention:

nondisclosure agreement
patent assignment
prototype-maker agreement
joint-ownership agreement

The 4th edition is completely revised with updated case law and patent regulations, updated filing information and new application examples.

When students need extra help with patent law, you can recommend this succinct, single-volume text with confidence. "Introduction to Patent Law, Second Edition", explores and explains the most recent cases and developments as it demystifies the basics of the field. Suitable for use with any patent casebook, this paperback text: clarifies the principal legal doctrines, key judicial authority, governing statutes, and guiding policy considerations in obtaining and enforcing a U.S. patent; addresses central aspects of international patent law as they affect U.S. practice in the final chapter; is written at an appropriate level for students with or without technical backgrounds; highlights patent law terms of art in boldface type and defines them in a glossary for quick reference; and includes helpful visual aids, as well as a sample patent. The Second Edition features enhanced coverage of: patent prosecution procedures; patent claim interpretation approaches; double patenting; anticipation; the patent/antitrust interface; and the pending Patent Reform Act of 2005. The updated text reflects recent significant case law developments, such as: Symbol Technologies on prosecution history laches; Phillips on patent claim interpretation; Festo III on prosecution history estoppel criteria; Knorr-Bremse on willful infringement; Merck KgaA on experimental use; Eolas on component exports; Honeywell on prosecution history estoppel; Novo Industries on correction of claim errors; National Steel Car on temporary presence defense; NTP on 'beneficial use' in the U.S.; Chiron on enablement of 'nascent' technology; University of Rochester on the written description requirement; Klopfenstein on 'printed publication' prior art; Schering on anticipation by inherency; Independent Ink on patent tying and market power; and Unitherm on Walker Process antitrust claims.

Inventor Ronald Louis Docie shares more than 20 years of valuable insight in this revised edition of The Inventors Bible, which now includes a workbook to help you take your ideas from concept to profit. With everything you need to know about marketing, licensing, and selling your invention, this comprehensive handbook will also help you figure out what your invention is worth, and which companies might want your ideas.

Need content? It's free for the taking!

Even though for years teachers have told us otherwise, writers and artists can copy other people’s work and get away with it. How? By dipping into the public domain, where everything is free for the taking.

The Public Domain is the only book that helps you find and identify what creative works are protected by copyright -- and what's not. The book provides specific information about:

*writings *music *art *photography *architecture *maps *choreography *movies and video *software *databases *collections

The 3rd edition is completely updated and revised, and includes information about the latest court decisions and the emergence of the "copyright commons." The book also provides hundreds of resources to help you find public-domain works.

Like most inventors, you dream of striking it rich – finding a company you can trust, hashing out a fair licensing deal, watching your idea hit the marketplace and then raking in the profits. But where do you find the right company? And how do you draft an agreement that will protect your interests?

License Your Invention provides both the practical marketing advice and the legal licensing language you need to turn your invention into a moneymaker.

Step by step, this book explains the key elements in a licensing agreement, from advances and royalties to the length of an agreement. It also explains complex concepts such as warranties, indemnity and reservation of rights – all in plain English. Learn how to:

*understand the licensing process  *determine your ownership rights *work with agents effectively *find potential licensors *show your invention while protecting your work *negotiate a fair licensing deal *draft your own comprehensive licensing agreement *understand, review and negotiate changes

The completely updated 4th edition provides a new section on international licensing and expanded information on invention ownership rights for university and government employees.

The United States Supreme Court famously labeled copyright "the engine of free expression" because it provides a vital economic incentive for much of the literature, commentary, music, art, and film that makes up our public discourse. Yet today's copyright law also does the opposite--it is often used to quash news reporting, political commentary, church dissent, historical scholarship, cultural critique, and artistic expression.
In Copyright's Paradox, Neil Weinstock Netanel explores the tensions between copyright law and free speech, revealing how copyright can impose unacceptable burdens on expression. Netanel provides concrete illustrations of how copyright often prevents speakers from effectively conveying their message, tracing this conflict across both traditional and digital media and considering current controversies such as the remix and copying culture rampant on YouTube and MySpace, hip-hop music and digital sampling, and the Google Book Search litigation. The author juxtaposes the dramatic expansion of copyright holders' proprietary control against the individual's newly found ability to digitally cut, paste, edit, remix, and distribute sound recordings, movies, TV programs, graphics, and texts the world over. He tests whether, in light of these developments and others, copyright still serves as a vital engine of free expression and he assesses how copyright does--and does not--burden speech. Taking First Amendment values as his lodestar, Netanel argues that copyright should be limited to how it can best promote robust debate and expressive diversity, and he presents a blueprint for how that can be accomplished.
Copyright and free speech will always stand in some tension. But there are ways in which copyright can continue to serve as an engine of free expression while leaving ample room for speakers to build on copyrighted works to convey their message, express their personal commitments, and create new art. This book shows us how.

Focused strategies for writing hard-hitting, results-based Web copy

The Web is a fascinating and boundaryless marketing medium­­and, like any new sales frontier, it has its own set of rules and attitudes for writing successful advertising, marketing, and sales copy. The Online Copywriter's Handbook is a clear, practical, and authoritative guide to key differences between writing for the Internet and writing for print. It covers general fundamentals of writing effective Web copy plus specific Web copywriting tasks from websites and home pages to Internet direct mail, banner ads, and more.

Numerous innovations and benefits include:
*Appendixes of helpful websites and other resources
*Time-tested fundamentals of writing effective copy
*Guidelines for E-zines and Web-based documents

The definitive guide to intellectual property for business managers

How can a product of the mind—an innovation, a song, a logo, a business secret—become the subject of precise property rights? No idea is entirely original; every innovative business borrows, sometimes extensively, from its competitors and others. So how do we draw the line between fair and unfair use?

Billions of dollars ride on that question, as do the fates of publishers, software producers, drug companies, advertising firms, and many others. It’s also a key question for individuals—for instance, if you quit your job after mastering the company’s secrets, what can you do with that information?

With the growth of the internet and global markets, having a smart IP strategy is more essential than ever. Intellectual Property is the ideal book for non-lawyers who deal with patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights—all essential business issues that have changed rapidly in the last few years.

Goldstein draws on dozens of fascinating case studies, from the Polaroid vs. Kodak battle to Kellogg’s surprising trademark suit against Exxon to whether a generic perfume is allowed to smell exactly like Chanel No. 5.

Every business decision that involves IP is also a legal decision, and every legal decision is also a business decision. Lawyers and managers need to work together to navigate these murky waters, and this book shows how.

"Intellectual property" - patents and copyrights - have become controversial. We witness teenagers being sued for "pirating" music - and we observe AIDS patients in Africa dying due to lack of ability to pay for drugs that are high priced to satisfy patent holders. Are patents and copyrights essential to thriving creation and innovation - do we need them so that we all may enjoy fine music and good health? Across time and space the resounding answer is: No. So-called intellectual property is in fact an "intellectual monopoly" that hinders rather than helps the competitive free market regime that has delivered wealth and innovation to our doorsteps. This book has broad coverage of both copyrights and patents and is designed for a general audience, focusing on simple examples. The authors conclude that the only sensible policy to follow is to eliminate the patents and copyright systems as they currently exist.

The best way to protect your invention is to keep good records. Let The Inventor's Notebook track & and prompt you to take care of every important step in the process. Use it to: