Books

Chapter 11 -- Patents versus Trade Secrets
A patent grants an inventor exclusive right to make, use, sell, and import an invention for a 20-year period (on June 8, 1995, the new term took effect in the US), in exchange for the public disclosure of the invention, and its practical application. An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem, which may be a product or a process. You cannot patent naturally occurring products in nature, scientific principles, laws of nature, mental processes, and mathematical formulas...

A systematic introduction to the work and views of the emerging patent-search research and innovation communities as well as an overview of what has been achieved and, perhaps even more importantly, of what remains to be achieved.

Written for inventors in lay terms that they can relate to or easily follow. Lays out the new features of patent law introduced by the America Invents Act of 2012. Explains the differences between the first-to-invent and first-to-file rules and why the two rules will coexist. Focuses on the growth of new technologies in industry versus the laws protecting them.

Aimed at the innovators who drive the advances from which we all benefit. This includes scientists, engineers, technicians, managers, and entrepreneurs who want to financially benefit from their innovations. Describes how to build patent portfolios that will properly protect your technology and be of financial benefit.  The tools that innovators need to have to generate patents are presented in detail.

Also available as an eBook via ProQuest Ebook Central.

What would our world today be like without inventions like tarmac, aspirin, liquid crystals, and barbed wire? This guide shows how patents and the inventions they describe have shaped the 21st century. It gives us insights into the inventions, big and small, that have had huge impacts, many unexpected, on multiple spheres of our lives, from popular culture and entertainment, to global health, to transportation, to the waging of war. It features patent documents that date from the mid-19th century to the present. Patent documents describe inventions and represent an accurate and rich source of information about the history and current state of modern technology, as patents are examined and their accuracy can be challenged. The subject matter covers many technical areas. Patents discussed include, for example, Morse code, the diode, triode, transistors, television, frozen foods, ring-pull for soft drink cans, board games such as Monopoly, gene editing, metamaterials, MRI, computerised tomography, insulin, and monoclonal antibodies such as Herceptin. The text is illustrated with drawings adapted from the original patent documents. Patent numbers are included to allow interested readers to trace the documents.

Also available as an ebook from Taylor & Francis Online
Provides researchers and students with an understanding of the aspects of patent law necessary to work with patent professionals and enhance patent coverage. Each chapter supports the issues discussed with fact patterns that emphasize the steps necessary to protect patent rights. The book describes actual scenarios encountered by scientists and engineers, highlighting the protection of latent patent rights that may exist within an invention or technical solution.

Also available as an ebook from EBSCOhost
How to assess the novelty of an idea and do patent searches at little or no cost, under the first-to-file rules that operate in the United States. There's no sense paying thousands of dollars to file a US patent application if someone else has beaten you to the Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).