Inventor's Guide to Law, Business and Taxes

by Fishman, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780873379250
• ISBN10: 087337925X
• Edition: CD
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-05-01
• Publisher: Nolo

Summary

Inventors' Guide to Law, Business & Taxes provides the straight-forward, plain-English information that inventors need. It also provides all the legal forms readers need on CD-ROM.

Table of Contents

Why Inventors Need to Know About Law, Business and Taxes
Business, Tax or Law?	2	(1)
What's Not in This Book	3
Choosing the Legal Form for Your Inventing Business
Your Business Entity Choices	2	(2)
Expense and Complexity	4	(3)
Tax Treatment	7	(5)
Liability Concerns	12	(6)
Recommended Business Forms	18
Setting Up Shop
Choosing a Name for Your Business	3	(3)
Working at Home	6	(6)
Leasing a Workplace	12	(2)
Business Licenses and Permits	14	(2)
Federal Employer Identification Number	16	(1)
Insurance	17
Bookkeeping and Accounting
Simple Bookkeeping for Inventors	2	(10)
Length of Time for Keeping Records and Logs	12	(1)
Accounting Methods and Tax Years	13	(1)
Creating Financial Statements	14	(1)
Other Inventing Business Records	14
Tax Basics
Inventors Who Earn Profits	2	(4)
Inventors Who Incur Losses	6	(1)
Inventors Who Hire Employees	7	(1)
How To Handle Your Taxes	7	(3)
IRS Audits	10
How to Prove to the IRS You're in Business
Qualifying as a Business	2	(2)
Passing the 3-of-5 Profit Test	4	(1)
Passing the Behavior Test	5
Inventor Tax Deductions
Tax Deductions: The Basics	2	(6)
Tax Deduction Road Map	8	(2)
Inventing Expenses You May Currently Deduct	10	(17)
Inventing Expenses You Must Deduct Over Time	27	(6)
Special Deduction Rules	33
Taxation of Inventing Income
Capital Gains vs. Ordinary Income	2	(1)
Capital Gains Treatment for Patents Under IRC § 1235	3	(3)
Paying Self-Employment Taxes	6	(4)
Paying Estimated Taxes	10
Your Inventor's Notebook
Why Keep an Inventor's Notebook	2	(3)
How to Keep Your Notebook	5	(2)
Witnessing Your Notebook	7	(1)
Alternatives to the Inventor's Notebook	8
Hiring Employees and Independent Contractors
Part I: Determining Workers' Legal Status	3	(1)
ICs Are Business Owners, Employees Are Not	3	(2)
Pros and Cons of Hiring Employees or ICs	5	(4)
Part II. Hiring Employees	7	(2)
Drafting an Employment Agreement	9	(13)
Tax Concerns When Hiring Employees	22	(4)
Part III. Hiring Independent Contractors	26	(1)
Drafting an Independent Contractor Agreement	26	(11)
Tax Reporting for Independent Contractors	37
Who Owns Your Invention?
Patent Ownership	2	(1)
Are You an Inventor?	3	(1)
Are You a Solo Inventor?	4	(1)
Are You a Joint Inventor?	5	(8)
Are You an Employee/Contractor Inventor?	13	(13)
Have You Transferred Your Ownership?	26	(3)
Trade Secret Ownership	29
Introduction to Intellectual Property
What Is Intellectual Property and Why Is It Important to Inventors?	2	(6)
Doing the Work of Obtaining IP Protection	8
Ten Things Inventors Should Know About Trade Secrets
All Inventions Begin As Trade Secrets	2	(1)
Any Valuable Information Can Be a Trade Secret	2	(1)
Trade Secrets Are the Do-It-Yourself Intellectual Property	3	(1)
You Can Make Money From Trade Secrets	3	(1)
Trade Secret Protection Is Weak	4	(1)
Trade Secret Laws Don't Protect Against Independent Discovery or Reverse Engineering	5	(1)
Trade Secret Protection Has No Definite Term	6	(1)
You Must Choose Between Trade Secret and Patent Protection	6	(3)
You Must Keep Your Trade Secrets Secret	9	(2)
When In Doubt, Use a Nondisclosure Agreement	11
Fifteen Things Inventors Should Know About Patents
Patents Are the Most Powerful IP Protection	2	(1)
A Patent---By Itself---Won't Make You Rich	2	(1)
You Can Profit From Your Invention Without a Patent	3	(1)
Patents Don't Work Well for Inventions With Short Commercial Lives	4	(1)
Patents Are Expensive and Difficult to Obtain	5	(2)
Most Inventions Are Not Patentable	7	(2)
Do a Patent Search Before Anything Else	9	(1)
You Must Document Your Inventing Activities	10	(1)
You'll Lose Your Right to Patent If You Violate the One-Year Rule	10	(1)
Filing a Provisional Patent Application Can Save You Money	11	(1)
Patents Last 17--18 Years	12	(1)
Enforcing a Patent Can Be Difficult and Expensive	13	(1)
U.S. Patents Only Work in the United States	13	(1)
Filing for Patents Helps Show You're in Business	13	(1)
Design Patents Can Protect the Way Your Invention Looks	14
Ten Things Inventors Should Know About Trademarks
Trademarks Can Earn Billions	2	(1)
Trademarks Identify Products and Services	2	(1)
You Must Have Trade to Have a Trademark	3	(1)
You Don't Need a Trademark to License Your Invention (But It Can Help)	3	(1)
Trademarks Are Not All Created Equal	4	(1)
Registering a Trademark Is Not Mandatory, But Provides Important Benefits	4	(1)
Intent to Use Registration Can Protect Your Mark Before You Use It in Trade	5	(1)
Do a Trademark Search Before Selecting Your Mark	5	(1)
Trademark Rights Are Limited	6	(1)
Only Federally Registered Marks Can Use the ® Symbol	7
Ten Things Inventors Should Know About Copyright
Copyright Protects Works of Authorship, Not Inventions	2	(1)
Copyright Can Protect Invention Design	3	(2)
You Can Make Money From Copyrights	5	(1)
Copyright Protection Is Limited	5	(1)
You Get A Copyright Whether or Not You Want It	6	(1)
Copyright Protection Lasts a Long Time	6	(1)
Register Valuable Copyrights	6	(1)
Use a Copyright Notice When You Publish Valuable Works	7	(1)
Copyright Isn't the Only Law That Protects Designs	8	(1)
Watch Out If You Hire an Independent Contractor to Create a Copyrighted Work	8
Ten Things Every Inventor Should Know About Licensing
No License Is Better Than a Bad License	4	(1)
You're Licensing Your Rights, Not Your Invention	4	(1)
Sublicensing and Assignments Allow Strangers to Sell Your Invention	5	(1)
You Can License Away the World and Get It Back	6	(1)
A Short Term Is Usually Better Than a Longer Term	7	(1)
Royalties Come in All Shapes and Sizes	8	(2)
Sometimes a Lump Sum Payment Is Better Than a Royalty	10	(2)
GMARs Guarantee Annual Payments	12	(1)
Deductions Can Make Your Royalties Disappear	13	(2)
Audit Provisions Permit You to Check the Books	15
Help Beyond the Book
Patent Websites	2	(3)
Finding and Using a Lawyer	5	(3)
Help From Other Experts	8	(1)
Doing Your Own Legal Research	9	(2)
Online Small Business Resources	11	(2)
State Offices Providing Small Business Help	13
Appendix A How to Use the CD-ROM
A. Installing the Form Files Onto Your Computer	2	(1)
B. Using the Word Processing Files to Create Documents	3	(2)
C. Using PDF Forms	5	(2)
D. Files Included on the Forms CD	7
Index