By David Pressman and David E. Blau
Published by Nolo Press
KF 3144.6 .P74 2018
Do you think that you’ve created the world’s greatest invention, the thing that will be talked about for ages to come? Or perhaps, it’s not something so grandiose, but nevertheless useful. At any rate, no matter the invention, you want to protect it or commercially market it. So, what can you do? A good place to start is Patent It Yourself: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Filing at the U.S. Patent Office. Now in its 19th edition, Patent It Yourself guides its readers through the patent process: from the patentability search through the preparation of the patent application to the filing of the necessary paperwork.
The book begins with an introduction to patents and the other types of intellectual property, such as trademarks, copyright, and trade secrets before moving onto the nuts and bolts of submitting an application for a patent. The authors, two patent attorneys, also present some questions to consider when filing for a patent or when thinking about filing for one: will the invention sell? Is it patentable? Is a patentability search necessary, and if so, how is it done? The authors also address issues that may arise after a patent is issued, such as supplemental applications; use, maintenance, and infringement; and ownership, assignment, and licensing of the invention.
Aside from the information contained in the text, there is a lot of useful information in the appendices:
a list of government publications and patent websites;
glossary of technical terms;
glossary of legal terms,
a quick-reference timing chart, and
forms.
There is also a Quick-Start Guide at the front that points readers to specific chapters depending on the task at hand. Before you send that application off to the Patent Office, be sure to have a look at Patent It Yourself: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Filing at the U.S. Patent Office. It can make the process much easier to navigate.