patent

The Entrepreneur's Guide to Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets & Licensing
$15.00
This is a wonderful book. For starters, it's well written, nicely organized, and easy to read. Just as important, it's targeted to entrepreneurs and does a great job of focusing on the issues that relate to starting and growing a new business venture -- rather than simply covering the technicalities of patent drafting, for example.

Perhaps the most valuable contribution this book can make for most entrepreneurs, especially those involved in technology-based ventures, is that it provides a strong foundation for conversations with an attorney. At the end of the day, most of us rely on the expert counsel of a patent attorney (or corporate attorney specializing in licensing transactions, for example). Being prepared to ask the right questions, present the relevant information, etc. is invaluable. It is also cost-effective. Beyond the simple fact that you'll learn a lot by reading this book, if you're using (paying for) patent counsel in any US city this book will pay for itself in about 10 minutes or less.

Steven K. Gold
Author, Entrepreneur's Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture

Patent Law, Third Edition (Aspen Treatise Series)
$59.00
This book is a great adjunct to the Patent Law course I am taking. For each topic in my casebook, I read the corresponding chapter in Mueller's book first. It sets up the material perfectly, making most of the cases much easier to follow. I could almost say that a patent course might be taught exclusively from this book, but Mueller doesn't cover some less well-known cases found in casebooks that give nuance to the material. That will be true of almost all horn books. But you could probably read only this book and still get at least a B in your course.

Invention Analysis and Claiming: A Patent Lawyer's Guide
$79.95
As a guide for claims drafting it is superb, while I think Landis on the Mechanics of Claim Drafting is an excellent text on the subject for Lawyers, Ronald Slusky's book is outstandingly well written for the beginner and even the novice. He describes in great detail the steps he takes in addressing the problem/solution analysis and then demonstrates various methods that he has found helpful in drafting the broadest independent claim. I like his treatment of fall back positions for overcoming a potential failure of the broadest claim. Sometimes even the skilled forget that their first broad claim while best for their client may not pass muster under the examiner's review. So the retreat and rewrite a less broad claim is quite appropriate. Then Ronald suggests how your analysis might be utilized to defend the claims in an office action and a potential response. Mr. Slusky does not try to write every potential claim form for you but gives helpful definitive suggestions for drafting winning claims. Excellent text. It should be on every Patent Attorney's desk or on the bookshelf of every Patent Agent.

Patent It Yourself: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Filing at the U.S. Patent Office
$49.99
This book is really an introduction to the patent process. The author explains what protections and rights a patent gives you and explains the process and requirements for filing a patent and the differences between utility and design patents. However some of the content is a little out of date and the USPTO now has a very comprehensive and clear set of online documents and guidelines that now limit its utility IMHO.

There is a legal language that has to be used that is not common usage when writing a patent, which this book mentions this but does not give specifics. Fortunately you can pick this up when doing your patent search for prior art. If you have a patent that you feel has very broad scope you are should seek the help of a good patent attorney as they do have the knowledge and experience to craft the language to give you the broadest coverage. This book will explain what the attorney does and how best to help him so as to minimize your costs by minimizing the review and redraft cycles.