Protecting Your Ideas: The Inventor's Guide to Patents

Intellectual property law is currently exploding, as demonstrated by the growth of technology transfer offices in universities. More and more scientists, companies, and institutions are rushing to secure intellectual property rights for their ideas and inventions. This process frustrates many people; patent laws are constantly changing, and most books about them are either overly technical or boring.

Protecting Your Ideas: The Inventor's Guide to Patents is a succinct, straightforward guide to the system. This guide presents the steps involved in obtaining patent protection for inventions. It is easy to read and brimming with essential information and advice compounded from FAQs posed by the author's academic and industrial clientele. The text includes tips, warnings, and examples that guide the reader through the invention process so patent rights are not jeopardized. Checklists and other helpful information are provided to assist the inventor preparing to enter the patent process. The book includes valuable resource information and business guidance to protect the inventor from consumer fraud that is sometimes associated with the patent process. Protecting and Idea is a must read for every engineer, scientist, or amateur inventor.

• Simple, easy-to-read format demystifies the patent process
• Numerous example patents help to illustrate the issues involved
• Provides an overview of the types of intellectual property protection
• Incorporates up-to-date information about U.S. patent laws
• Advises inventors about the do's and don'ts of patenting
• Includes useful resources for helping inventors safeguard their ideas

Joy L. Bryant holds an M.A. in Applied Science―Patent Practice from the College of William and Mary and an M.S. in Polymer Science from the University of Akron. She is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as an agent. Bryant is currently in private practice in Virginia and is the Founder and President of the National Association of Patent Practitioners (NAPP), a nonprofit professional association for patent agents and attorneys. Prior to starting her own practice, Bryant was employed as a patent agent in the Office of Patent Counsel at NASA Langley Research Center and an industrial polymer chemist. She has also developed three commercial products, one of which is patented.