Patent It Yourself

by David Pressman

Patent It Yourself is the world's bestselling patent book, recommended by patent attorneys, inventors, librarians, journalists and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Written by Attorney David Pressman, who has over 30 years' experience in the patent profession, the book walks inventors step by step through the entire process, explaining how § evaluate the commercial potential of an idea § file a provisional patent application to get an early filing date and patent pending status § conduct a patent search § explore international patent protection opportunities § assign and license an invention to others § and more.Thoroughly updated, the 12th edition of provides the latest U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rules and forms.Whether you're new at the inventing game or a grizzled veteran, Patent It Yourself will save you grief, time, and most importantly, money.

Genres: Business, Reference, Entrepreneurship, Nonfiction, Startup, Engineering, Legal

575 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

Reviews

[Danielle Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely helpful, although some clarifications to the PTO online filing would have been useful. At points, information requested for my online application did not correspond to any of the terminology in the book. I spent more time searching for clarification of those terms than I did filing.

[Cardyn Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 18th edition of Patent It Yourself is a thorough step-by-step instruction manual that starts with questions for evaluating the viability of an idea all the way to submitting an patent application. For readers focused on the application process my recommendation is to read and study those chapters for a week or so, then set it aside for several days before reviewing the relevant chapters and creating a rough draft. If there's an application deadline involved, allowing a least two weeks for rewrites, revisions, and followup questions to the USPTO was very helpful for me.

Some passages are still confusing despite the authors' best efforts to simply lawyer-speak into layperson's language, but there are many examples provided to help with clarification.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opened my eyes to the availability of patent info online. Google, for instance, has all U.S. patents online. And they are searchable. This is the best-selling book about patents. It's a very useful introduction to how to patent.

[Jason Braatz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've worked on a considerable amount of IP throughout the years (that I assigned to my employers' benefit as part of my working contract) so this has been something of interest for me for a long time. Spoiler alert: it's not as impossible as many make it sound, it can be done (and is in one's best interest at times) to file for a patent without an attorney. That's not much of a spoiler since that's basically Mr. Pressman's title for the book, but this book executes on what is advertising it'll teach you. Job done. How many legal DIY or self help books ever give you everything that you need to know?

The authors are clear, very concise (this is a big topic) and explores about anything you could think of within the realm of patents. The bonus content is a nice discussion with the pro's and con's of keeping such information a trade secret, the gist of copyrighting material designed for in-patent use, and other fascinating wheels in the process. In fact it's so thorough, that every entrepreneur - even those who aren't seeking to patent something - should still read this book. Sometimes it's useful, for example, to purchase IP for a pre-existing business to enhance a position against a competitor. Some things should be patented even if they aren't used (while he doesn't go full blown into the reason why this is done, A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War does this much better). Those "paper patents," add up and can be used as a hidden asset.

Final thoughts:
1. Nolo never disappoints. They have the de-facto legal minds working to author the best techniques on any given subject, and this is no exception.
2. The author painstakingly looks at every angle with the reader through the book. It's both read-worthy and a solid reference book, all in one. It will not disappoint you on this topic!

[Mekuanint Awoke]

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[Zainan Victor Zhou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful!

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reference book on patents. If you are involved with patents in any way, this is the standard reference

[Kevin Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Mark Mendel for recommending this. Warning: the book has no plot, no characters, etc....

[Dan Hyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview/primer.