Nolo's Patents for Beginners

by Pressman, David; Stim, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780873378505
• ISBN10: 0873378504
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-08-01
• Publisher: Nolo

Summary

Do you toil away in an office, garage or basement lab in the hopes of bringing a new goo-gaw to life? What will you do when the thingamajig is alive and kicking?

Here's the primer every first-time inventor needs. Packed with plain-English explanations and step-by-step instructions, Nolo's Patent for Beginners defines clearly and simply what a patent is and why you need one. The book shows you:

* how to document an invention for maximum protection

* how to tackle the time-and-money-saving, patent-searching process

* the patent application process

* who owns a patent

* how to avoid patent infringement

Written by patent attorney and bestselling author David Pressman and Attorney Richard Stim, Nolo's Patent for Beginners is the book to have for newbie inventors wishing to learn the patent basics.

Author Biography

David Pressman has over 40 years of experience in the patent profession -- as a patent attorney, an examiner for the U.S. Patent Office and a university instructor Rich Stim is an intellectual property and licensing attorney and an editor at Nolo

Table of Contents

Introduction
Organization of Text	2	(1)
Icons Used in This Book	3	(1)
Patents and Intellectual Property Law
What Is a Patent?	4	(1)
The Three Types of Patents	4	(1)
Patent Rights	5	(1)
The Requirements for Obtaining a Patent	6	(1)
How Long Do Patent Rights Last?	6	(1)
How Patent Rights Can Be Lost	7	(1)
Intellectual Property-The Big Picture	7	(1)
Trademarks	8	(1)
Copyright	9	(3)
Trade Secrets	12	(4)
Unfair Competition	16
Qualifying for a Patent
Legal Requirements for a Utility Patent	2	(1)
Statutory Classes	3	(4)
Utility	7	(2)
Novelty and Prior Art	9	(8)
Nonobviousness	17	(8)
Legal Requirements for a Design Patent	25	(1)
Legal Requirements for a Plant Patent	25
Invention Documentation
The Importance of Documentation	2	(1)
Lab Notebook	3	(3)
Invention Disclosure	6	(1)
Documenting Conception: Disclosure Document Program (DDP)	6	(2)
Documenting Reduction to Practice: Provisional Patent Application	8	(1)
Trade Secret Considerations	9
Patent Searching
Principles of Patent Searching	2	(1)
Hiring a Patent Searcher	3	(2)
Do It Yourself Searching	5
Reading and Writing Patents
Elements of a Patent	3	(1)
Invention and Inventor Data	3	(1)
Specification	3	(11)
Claims	14	(5)
Abstract	19	(1)
Drawings	20	(3)
Preparation of a Patent Application	23
Patent Prosecution and the PTO
Patent Prosecution: The Road to Allowance	2	(10)
Responding to a Final Office Action	12	(2)
Additional Application Issues	14	(3)
Design Patent Prosecution	17
Patent Ownership
The Inventor Is Initial Owner of Patent Rights	2	(1)
Employee Inventions	2	(5)
Joint Owners	7
Patent Infringement
What Is Patent Infringement?	3	(5)
Who Can Sue, Who Can Be Sued?	8	(1)
Stopping Patent Infringement	9	(5)
Defenses to Patent Infringement	14	(4)
Ending Disputes Without a Lawsuit	18
International Patent Law
Introduction to Foreign Patent Treaties and Laws	2	(4)
Putting It Together: The Most Common Route for U.S. Inventors Seeking Foreign Patent Coverage	6	(1)
The Paris Convention and the One-Year Foreign Filing Rule	6	(2)
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)	8	(3)
European Patent Office (EPO)	11	(1)
Locating Foreign Patent Agents	12
Help Beyond This Book
Inventor Resources	2	(1)
Patents and Intellectual Property Resources	3	(3)
Working With an Attorney	6
Glossary
Index