Professions Books

This book helps to clarify the dry rules & concepts of Civil Procedure. Much more readable than a boring casebook (although best as a supplement to, not a replacement for, the casebook).

This book was a godsend unfortunately I bought it a little too late, I wish I would have had it for the entire year instead of the last couple of weeks of class. It has everything including the minute details professors like to test on for finals...If you need civil procedure help..look at this book or listen to the Richard Freer CDS..

This book provides an in-depth discussion of the civil procedure in a well written and understandable presentation. It is a lot better than the Glannon's book.

I actually bought this book solely on the weight of the positive Amazon reviews it received. It's by far the best study aid I've purchased, and I highly recommend it to any Civ Pro student. Glannon's E&E is also well-written, but I find myself coming back to Freer's book to clarify topics that are covered in my casebook.

I agree with the other reviewers that this is an excellent guide to Civil Procedure. The book provides the basics of Civil Procedure and, where appropriate, the little details that can easily trap an unwary student on an exam. Most importantly, the book is peppered with examples that will help crystalize the material. Suprisingly, it also is very easy reading. My impression was that the author actually was interested in making sure the reader understands the material rather than providing a perfunctory compilation of rules. Like one of the prior reviewers, I was essentially lost for the majority of my Civil Procedure class until I bought this book.

I liked this book. For me it falls somewhere between a 3-star and a 4-star book on Amazon's rating list. It has some good content, it is grammatically correct, and it gives the reader some things to think about. It talks about Intellectual Property from a legal standpoint. But it talks mostly about how to strategically use and protect Intellectual Property in business in the US and globally.

The Intellectual Property world consists of four basic types of risk:

1. Institutional risks
2. Infringement risks
3. Management risks
4. Technology risks

This book tries to explain strategies and tactics that can help company executives protect the ideas their companies depend on for staying competitive and earning profits. Unfortunately the road to success at protecting lucrative ideas is not one well traveled. And it is equally hard to write a book about how to travel that road. The authors have tried to write such a book. But, not surprisingly, I think they fell a little short on achieving their goal of writing a masterpiece. This does not mean this book is not worthy of being read. It is a good book. And any company executive that has a portfolio of Intellectual Property should probably give it a read.

This book approaches strategy on a company basis, an industry basis, a country basis, and a global basis. There is a need for this book. And most senior executives have either struggled with the material in this book, or they should have before their companies took a turn for the worst. This book is written by a patent attorney and a serial entrepreneur - two people who should (and do) know a great deal about the material covered here. Since innovative ideas are more important in business today than ever before, and this book can help you strategize how you are going to maximize your benefit from taking your innovative ideas to market, you probably should consider getting a copy of this book. 3.8 stars

PS. The authors have provided Amazon with "Search Inside" material for this book. Consider examining the Table of Contents (TOC) that can be found there. It will help you better understand what is in this book. The TOC for this book is quite informative.

This book captures the IP strategy every CTO needs to build the company IP portfolio. Your investors will love you!

Practical advice on how to build a killer IP portfolio is hard to find - this book is it! The authors understand the legal, business, and creative aspects well and provide a thorough and balanced program for attacking this most important of value creation challenges. Own this book, own your future.

A detailed, concise guide that will help you navigate through the process of protecting your innovations.

iProperty is a very important book for any business executive who wants to learn how to best maximize his/her intellectual property portfolio. However, what makes this book stand out over all the others is the ability of the authors to make the subject fun, and the book as a whole incredibly easy to read and comprehend. By providing a comprehensive, yet easy to read background and a detailed blueprint on how to move forward, this book can benefit many other people critical to the success of any intellectual property management program, including intellectual property attorneys and corporate R&D personnel, no matter what level of Intellectual Property management experience. iProperty definitely earns a 5-star rating and is a must-read for anyone who wishes to get the maximum return on their intellectual property investment.

The fundamentals haven't changed, and news events just make this book more relevant each year. Until the insane lawsuit trend stops, it is ordinary honest people who are at risk of losing their assets. Starchild's book addresses a number of safe, conservative techniques to gain some degree of protection - protection that is not always available through insurance

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of Keep What You Own, by Adam Starchild (or whatever his real name is).

Although the publishers of this book (Paladin Press) are perhaps best known for their more radical, esoteric titles, Keep What You Own is actually a fairly conservative book when it comes to asset protection advice. It shows you the pros as well as the cons of most methods it covers, which the majority of books on this subject completely fail to do.

From Nevada Corporations to Offshore Trusts, most of the well-known methods of asset protection are covered in this book, and usually in fairly good depth. Despite having already read several books on asset protection in the past, Starchild actually brings up some extremely good points that many other books fail to mention. Some of his insights on Nevada Corporations were especially eye opening.

Although not an attorney, Starchild has obviously done his homework. There are a few asset protection methods you can tell that he is obviously biased towards (Swiss Annuties for example), but for the most part he provides a very unbiased look at each method of asset protection, and clearly explains why (or why not) it might be the right vehicle for you.

On the downside, the book is obviously in need of an update (it was originally published in 1995), although the vast majority of the methods he describes have changed little since the original publication. Also, he seems to pepper the book with references to companies that you have the distinct impression he is financially linked to. Unfortunately, writing under an assumed pen name does not add to his credibility.

On the whole though, Keep What You Own is one of the better asset protection books I have read. It would be great to see an updated version of this title, but 95% of it is still applicable to today's laws. Before you buy in to any of the more questionable asset protection schemes that you see advertised, you would do well to get a copy of this book. It reveals the good, the bad, and the ugly, when it comes to asset protection strategies.

An offshore haven is simply a country other than your own. To an American, it's anywhere you bank outside of the U.S. Why invest in offshore havens? Because when you invest outside your own country, you are no longer tied to its restrictive financial laws, and can protect your assets, save taxes and build your wealth easier.

Most of us have been hoodwinked into thinking that offshore havens are illegal, too risky, or otherwise unworthy of consideration. Don't believe it. Financial expert Adam Starchild will dispel myths and misconceptions about offshore banking and reveal how you can:

Achieve total secrecy and and financial privacy
Transfer your money offshore, and keep it safe from lawsuits, creditors, the IRS, etc.
Use offshore havens to legally avoid, defer or minimize taxes
Invest globally and build your wealth
Pick the offshore haven that best meets your objectives
Choose the right offshore bank and maintain an account -- easily and safely
Do business offshore -- and reap extraordinary benefits
And more!

Many people who elect to become structured offshore do so because they feel persecuted by government, claim-minded litigants, and even investigative journalists. Often it is less an election than a matter of simple survival. In spite of assurances of fair trials and opportunities to be heard, assets are at risk if they remain in your home country or if you remain within the range of the agencies or individuals that would attack you. The natural law of envy provides that the greater your success, the greater the likelihood that you will become a target for several character types, each with a different agenda but all proximately motivated by the natural law. That is, the means and immediate goals of attackers may take different forms but at root, each is driven by the natural law of envy.

Unfortunately, it is impossible for anyone, including us, to live in this world without confronting such ugliness in some form or another. Cloaked in a thousand forms of self-righteous crusading and victim restitution, all efforts share a common goal of taking away your assets. For example, armies of IRS bureaucrats, working 40 hours a week in positions with little hope of advancement, are paid to audit you and simply cannot help but enjoy the prospect of acquainting you with financial adversity. They may not personally realize economic benefit from their work, but their gratification derives from knowing that at least you will not enjoy your former wealth.

Today your wealth and ability to do with it as you please are in great danger. Not only is there a proliferation of thieves and parasites armed with sophisticated electronic weapons that can steal our money, but the government itself -- the very institution we should rely on to guard our rights -- is after our wealth more persistently and maliciously than any thief in the world.

All over the world, governments are becoming more and more predatory. They reach for more and more power, and they squeeze more and more money out of their citizens... by any means they can. There is almost nowhere on earth your money is safe anymore.

Powers to confiscate money, under the guise of "drug laws," are growing in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and many other countries around the world.

Historically, appropriation of wealth has taken many forms -- and it's gone on for centuries. For instance, in East Germany alone, 9,870 industrial and commercial enterprises and about one-third of the entire land area capable of agricultural or forestry use were confiscated between 1945 and 1949. The same thing has gone on throughout South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Do you do business in the U.S.? You should know that new banking regulations make it a federal crime not to report certain transactions -- of as little as $3,000. There is no requirement that the money be involved in any criminal activity -- it is a crime to simply not report the transaction. The penalty? Liability for a five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. And -- the law allows the federal government to confiscate any funds they allege to be involved. Plus, bank tellers can collect huge rewards -- up to $150,000 -- for turning you in, if you are subsequently convicted of a criminal act, and subject to a civil fine or forfeiture of money or property.

Governments all over the world are trying to figure out how to crack down on the Internet and on-line communications. They're deathly afraid they'll lose their ability to tax, seize, and control their citizens' money.

The recent Bre-X scandal is a perfect example of how you can be cleverly robbed from anywhere in the world. Bre-X was one of the hot mining companies listed in Canada, but the investors who were fleeced were from all over the world. In a nutshell, fake drilling reports ran the stock of Bre-X from pennies all the way to $22.50, after a 10-1 split. When it turned out the reports were fake, some $4 billion in wealth disappeared almost overnight as the stock plunged.

As you can see, these threats are global. Governments don't protect you -- they're just part of the problem. And other threats cross borders and continents in the blink of an eye.

It doesn't matter whether you're wealthy or average, an individual or a company, or where you are in the world -- the assaults on wealth, from government and crooks, is growing, and you are at risk.

Adam Starchild believes that your wealth should be secure -- safe from the government and safe from thieves. In Keep What You Own he shows you some specific strategies to protect your wealth.

This is a useful book for any author who wants to understand the many important issues and details in a publishing contract. As a literary agent I want my clients to be as knowledgable as possible in all aspects of their careers. For those that are interested in understanding every contract clause and detail, I recommend Kirsch's book wholeheartedly.

Please understand, though, that this is an incredibly detailed, expert look at every clause in a publishing contract, which an agent negotiates on an author's behalf. If the nuances of legal language aren't of interest and you would rather just get an overview of key contract issues, I'd recommend Michael Larsen's "Literary Agents: What They Do, How They Do It, and How to Find and Work with the Right One for You" instead, or one of the other books on the business of publishing.

If you've ever received a book contract from a general publisher, it can be a frightening experience. I know firsthand because I have a number of these contracts in my files--which I have negotiated and ultimately signed (and the book was publisihed). Also I know how it feels to be the editor negotiating with the writer or the literary agent, since I'm an acquisitions editor for a book publisher.

Jonathan Kirsch takes the mystery out of the legalese in this comprehensive title about book contracts. Every author, editor and literary agent needs this book to increase their knowledge base about book contracts.

The best way I can think of to describe the value of Kirsch's Guide to the Book Contract is to quote from my own book Successful Nonfiction.

"The contract you receive from your publisher may be in two colors and printed on fancy paper but it is not chiseled in stone. Only new authors sign and return a publisher's first offer. You may make changes to the contract and return it-that is a "counter offer". The contract may go back and forth until someone "accepts it."

"I took a distressing telephone call from an author who had just received a contract from a large New York publisher. There were a total of 21 items in the contract she didn't like or didn't understand. After discussing some of them, I suggested she call her editor and have a discussion. Better communication was certainly required here.

She called back two days later, both astonished and delighted. When she asked about the first paragraph in question, the editor said, "that's okay; you can have it." She got what she wanted on the next paragraph in question too. On one other paragraph that concerned her, the editor said something like, "Well, that sounds like this but in the book trade it really means that; so it isn't a big issue."

The result: she got 19 out of the 21 things she asked for. So contract discussions do not mean pulling the wool over the eyes of your publisher. This was a win-win negotiation.

"Take the contract to a book attorney (not just any attorney, not a contract attorney and not a media attorney). When it comes to literary properties and money, you need professional help. And make a counter offer." Kirsch's book will help you understand the publisher's contract.

Jonathan Kirsch is a well-known book critic and book attorney in Los Angeles.

As the author of 113 books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles, I highly recommend this book to writers and publishers everywhere. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com.

This book shows you a sample contract then breaks it down and explains every little piece. There are many alternative clauses too, showing you how to retain different rights and territories, handle secondary rights like audio and movie, and so on.
Even if you have an agent representing you, you would want to understand everything in your contract before you sign it.
My copy of this book is annotated from one end to the other, with folded corners, underlining and pen scribble highlighting the bits I consider most important. Bring on that contract...

Excellent for writing Author/Publisher contracts from the perspective of the Publisher. Explains each clause in the sample contracts, gives many many variations, and helps protect the publisher from many events that (in my experience) other lawyers/books did not include in their contracts.

Highly recommended, probably the only book you need to check your lawyer's work or probably even write your own contract from scratch.

Jonathan Kirsch is an interesting combination: he is both a novelist and an attorney. He puts both skills to use in this book by creating an interesting, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand dissertation on all aspects of publishing law. The book is highly recommended for both authors and publishers.

After a three-chapter introduction of some basic publishing law concepts, he spends almost 80 pages in chapter four going over the book publishing contract clause by clause. He examines the legal implications of each clause, the profit/loss implications for both the author and the publisher, as well as typical practices throughout the industry. Every author and every publisher should read this chapter twice!

Chapter five examines defamation and privacy issues that every author and publisher should know before they write or publish a book. Can you risk not knowing this?

After that he examines copyright, subsidiary rights, and trademark issues in detail-essential information for publishers.

A well-read copy of this book belongs on the shelf of every publisher and author.

Not only has this book saved me much time and money in research and legal fees, but the author makes the information accessible by offering myriad examples to back up his sage advice. I keep three books on my desk: the dictionary, the Chicago Manual of Style, and Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law. A classic.

Read this before you sign your first book contract. I'm glad I did. I made this material my crash course and it paid off. - DaveDavidson.com - author

Are you about to finish writing a book? Are you an editor, agent, publisher, or even rookie lawyer in publishing? If so, or even if you are considering publishing something- anything, really- than this book is an essential tool/workbook in navigating the potentially dangerous/potentially treasure-filled waters of the printed word industry. Do not sign any book contract- no matter how good it 'sounds'- without first reading this book. Do not quote another source in your material without understanding the possible copyright consequences as explained in this book. Do not sign on with an agent or collaborator without first studying this book. I have seen too many musicians get screwed in boilerplate recording contracts and now that I have moved into writing I am very thankful that I have found and read this book- as I do not want to be the next victim of the 'small print' of a powerful publisher or by a indemnity lawsuit due to any negligence on my part.

What Kirsch does in this publication is go through a book contract step-by-step, clause-by-clause, he 'reads between the lines' for us, he dissects the main deal points in a negotiation and summarizes the critical areas to pay attention to; he hems out publishing law as it applies to writing your book, selling your story to a publisher, and reaping your rewards without incurring a hefty lawsuit. This book is very-well formatted in a visual sense, is user-friendly, even for the publishing law novice, yet it teaches its concepts at a fairly advanced level. What more could you want?

Jonathan Kirsch is an interesting combination: he is both a novelist and an attorney. He puts both skills to use in this book by creating an interesting, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand dissertation on all aspects of publishing law. The book is highly recommended for both authors and publishers.

After a three-chapter introduction of some basic publishing law concepts, he spends almost 80 pages in chapter four going over the book publishing contract clause by clause. He examines the legal implications of each clause, the profit/loss implications for both the author and the publisher, as well as typical practices throughout the industry. Every author and every publisher should read this chapter twice!

Chapter five examines defamation and privacy issues that every author and publisher should know before they write or publish a book. Can you risk not knowing this?

After that he examines copyright, subsidiary rights, and trademark issues in detail-essential information for publishers.

A well-read copy of this book belongs on the shelf of every publisher and author.

I've never practiced law, but I still know a good book when I see one. This is no less than an excellent, detailed examination of what it's like to be a lawyer (in 1995, anyway). Author Walt Bachman focuses mostly on the negative aspects of the profession, but I never caught any unfair / invalid generalizations, or got the sense of a guy grinding an axe. The maladies he points out are well-reasoned and substantial, and definitely worth contemplating for aspiring law students.

The book is quick to dispel the glamorized image of lawyers in the media. Bachman claims the nature of the job to be highly stressful, in part because of excessive hours but even more because of the burden of being responsible for the fate of another. There's a vivid parable about a science experiment with several pairs of monkeys, in which only one of them had the ability to stop a painful electrical shock that affected them both. At one point, the scientists took away the control but the sense of responsibility remained, eventually causing all the "control" monkeys to die from stress.

Another major lesson is that morals, as defined by most of the population, have no place in the world of law. Your role is that of a moral mercenary, representing any client that comes your way no matter how reprehensible. Worse, arguing strategy is less about the battle of truths, and more about discrediting and attacking your opponent, humiliating and exploiting witnesses, or in some cases, simply prolonging the process so that the other side won't bother to fight. He also warns that the effects of all this often spill over into a lawyer's personal life, often jeopardizing personal relationships. Finally, he makes a precise claim that more than 40% of clients are complete "assholes" -- and since they usually seek like-minded lawyers, it drives the demand for regular, balanced lawyers even further.

Other complaints: the work is far more boring that it seems. Supposedly, most lawyers spend most of their days working out the minutiae in boring paperwork, and it's rare to see a trial room. Billable hours have become the dominating priority, even higher in importance than quality of work. Also, a disproportionate rise in the number of lawyers since the 70s means there are roughly 1,000,000 lawyers out there today -- way more than the market needs. He tells stories of many un- and under-employed new grads, and tells of the desperation to pay off crippling student debts.

I could go on, but why not just read it for yourself? Heck, it's only 140 pages.

This book is mind opening for those who want to be lawyers. It presents the reality in the life of the lawyer within himself, family, work and society. It also presents the truth that lawyers are afraid to say when working for a firm. After reading it you might learn that the time and money spent might not be worthy. It is an insight in the career for those who know nothing about what they will be facing.

A seasoned attorney gave me this book when I was in my third year of law school. Eight years later I remain very grateful that I received this gift, because it is the most poignant, blunt, and accurate synopsis of the legal profession I have ever come across. The point of this book is not to deter people from being lawyers or scare the daylights out of them. Rather, it aims to prepare aspiring lawyers for what lies ahead of them in the real world of the law. If you're in law school or thinking about going to law school this book will open your eyes to the practice of law, but even if you're already a practicing attorney there is plenty in here that you'll recognize and appreciate.

In nine quick and easily accessible chapters, Bachman outlines many striking truths about what an aspiring lawyer can expect to encounter in contemporary practice. This text is an absolute must read for anyone pondering law school.

Bachman reveals some brutal truths, such as "Lesson Seven: 10% of a lawyer's soul dies for every 100 billable hours worked in excess of 1,500 per year" (p.107). I appreciated his earnest approach to quantify, as scientifically as possible, his ideas about problems in the law.

As for others criticisms of this book- that he outlines only the problems and does not present possible solutions- well, that's just too bad. The very fact that he chooses not to is a direct reflection of the severity and fixed nature of these problems.

This book is EXCELLENT and the kind of book to buy and KEEP on one's shelf as a law student and lawyer. Fast moving, easily read in one afternoon but material to be digested slowly. The author's vivid, extraordinarily creative analogy of lawyering to a money experiment - only that one short chapter - is well worth the price of this book...and then some. That analogy was well-crafted, like a great trial lawyer would tell. What the author begins here on his sociological analysis is absolutely TOO DAMN GOOD to skim as he did. I was left wanting of more depth to his observation, more thought, more help.

To me, this book did not warrant five stars because I place a higher burden on this author with what he has started here. I feel it is the duty of an author of such intellect and keener, stronger analytical ability than others to take us not further, but deeper, into understanding what this book has the potential to do, what it introduces us to in its 140 pages.

NONETHELESS, this is the kind of book that needs to be written, one which needs to be read BY EVERYONE, NON LAWYERS ALIKE!!!! to better understand ourselves and our present society. Excellent beginning job for Walt Bachman.

It's unfortunate that this book uses the term legal in the title since that might turn off potential readers who are not lawyers. The topics covered in this book would be interesting to anyone with an interest in politics, economics, public policy, and of course law. Some of the discussion is geared a little more towards law, but it doesn't take too much thought to extend the ideas.

Each chapter gives an introduction to the topic it concerns itself with, such as game theory, slippery slopes, hindsight bias, etc. It then goes on to discuss some problems drawn from areas such as a law, economics, or social issues, and how considering them in light of the topic of the chapter can give a new perspective.

The chapters are short and not so interdependent that you couldn't skip around a little to read the ones you find most interesting first. I think all the chapters were interesting, and recommend just starting at the beginning.

Amazon doesn't give a table of contents, but you can look up the author's website which has a link to a website for the book. There you can find the table of contents and a few sample chapters.

I purchased this book, like all of my legal theory book purchases, with a bit of skepticism. However, unlike most of my legal theory books, I finished this one wondering how I ever felt equipped to understand any aspect of our laws without it. This book explains some very complicated legal theories by using only the clearest explanations and examples available. The sections on Jurisprudence and Incentives are especially insightful. The chapters are very well organized. My only regret about this book is that it wasn't available to me as a law student. I recommend this book to anyone, especially law students, who is interested in gaining a better appreciation for the policies behind and implications of our laws.

It provides the reader with an overview of the principle methods used in legal reasoning. Using simple, but realistic examples Farnsworth shows the ambiguity facing the various parties in a legal setting. He shows how various "tools" can be used in thinking about legal problems and describes the less obvious but potentially relevant factors that must be considered in deciding the outcome.

The audience for the book is not limited to lawyers. It will be of interest to those in any profession where the decision to complex issues calls for seeing the problem as a whole, examining how decisions affect one another and arriving at the optimal solution.

The book views the law in many parts through the lens of economic theory.

It is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the law.

I recommend this book to any law student. This is stuff that all my professors continually refer to, but no one ever really takes the time to explain. I've been able to participate much more in discussions and understand the implications of various policies, etc.

I have Farnsworth as a professor and he is great! This book will help you understand why the law is the way it is.

This is a great book for the non-lawyer. It explains not only IP law, but also the ramifications that these regulations can have to your business as a holder of IP.

A ravenous beastie, technology eats everything it touches. Our daily lives, the way we shop, how we communicate, our work habits, the way we entertain ourselves, and how we exist day by day have all irreversibly transmogrified in the maw of the computer and information age. Now we live like network packets, shooting from node to node with rarely a pause, gathering and transporting information. In degrees of busyness, we've outdone the bees. Such a tsunami of change has to impact the way we govern ourselves. And of course it does. Not even the law escapes technology.

Patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets. Technology has chiseled into each one of these modes of intellectual property protection. But the issues remain complicated and hairy, and this book, with text thick as shag carpet, provides a detailed starting point for exploring the legal implications of technology.

After a thorough introduction to the United States' legal system, some 75 pages worth, the book dives into patent law. Any questions about the nature of patents such as cost, usefulness, novelty, nonobviousness, infringement, or validity receive apt treatment. The book even throws in an overview of the significant Patent Reform Act, not yet passed as of this writing. This Act promises to overhaul the United States patent system, potentially obsoleting some of the information presented. Concerning the patentability of computer programs, the whole drama gets laid out like an adventure tale. Computer programs didn't become patentable overnight. Some even doubted their eligibility for protection.

Trade secrets and their discontents, such as reverse engineering, receive a bulky chapter. These issues affect nearly all technology employees. Use caution, because tricks, shortcuts, or streamlined processes taken from one company to the next could, depending on the circumstances, misappropriate secret information. And when that happens the lawyers come out swinging.

The fuzzy nature of Copyright law receives as much tree bark as patent law. Questions arise on this subject often, especially in regard to the internet. Can I copy an image and put it on my site? Can I legally download digital music? What if a .jpeg doesn't have a copyright notice? The book provides a suitable background to answer these. And, similar to patents, the copyrightablility of computer programs also weaved a loopy route. At first they received overwhelming protection, which disturbed judges, who then abstracted, filtered, and compared protection down to a mere kernal of expression. The entire yarn gets told.

The book ends with chapters on trademarks, domain name issues, tort liability, privacy law, and issues related to contracts, particularly "shrink-wrap" and "click-wrap" licenses. At over 600 pages, the book defies summary. Prepare for a full brain.

Along the way, excerpts from actual court cases, including many Supreme Court decisions, bolster the main text. Not only that, a case study, CoolEdge, runs through the entire length of the book, elucidating murky concepts with comprehensible examples.

This book won't turn readers into lawyers, but it will open up a world of technology law to those with the gusto to brave its dense contents. Some chapters take upwards of two or three hours to complete. But the effort offers great rewards of legal knowledge at a detailed level unobtainable in most survey books or on FAQ websites. Best of all, no legal knowledge is required upon entry. Absolute beginners can comprehend every word in this book. As such it provides a great, but ardous, starting point for technology law.

I bought this book because it was the most recent publication purporting to explain technology law. Although I thought the price was a little high, I sure got more than my money's worth. This book really covers the most important and interesting topics in technology law, and it does so extremely well. Biotech, Internet patents, privacy, obscenity, copyrights, trade secrets, click-wraps, domain names, design protection, strategies for computer programs, the Microsoft Antitrust case-you name it and this book has got it. The book also deals with international matters, such as the WTO, and international strategic considerations. The court case examples are well selected, and the editing is superb. They are not to short to be trivial, but not to long either. I also visited the Web site mentioned on the back cover. It already has a bunch of helpful updates, including the Napster and DVD encryption (DeCSS) debates, among many others. This really is a great book. I recommend it highly.

Call this book Release 2.0! It's a fine upgrade from Prof. Burgunder's prior release.

With the growth in the internet and the advent of business method patents, interest in patent, trademark and copyright issues has surged to new heights. Awareness and integration of these legal aspects into our management of technology is absolutely vital for the future.

I practice law. Specifically, I work on intellectual property matters. I am also building two websites. As a result, I am keen on staying on top of my field. Professor Burgunder's new treatise is an important addition to the literature in this field. He writes in an accessible manner: open to students, interested people and legal practitioners alike. In addition, the arrangement of the book is well thought-out: you don't have to read or study it from the first chapter. Depending on your familiarity with this field, you can select topics and areas to review or you can build a college course around the book.

I was also delighted to see that Dr. Burgunder has been intelligent in the use of a web site to keep the book current.

If you are interested in technology and legal issues, this is a great book to help you! I recommend it heartily.

A splendid piece of work! It is timely and up-to-date with all the most recent & important technological law issues, including the Internet. It contains sophisticated analysis, but in an easy-to-read style. I particularly liked how the Internet is treated in the context of associated technology issues, rather than segregated as a separate unrelated universe. A big plus is the web site connected to the book where Burgunder provides updates about current issues --- such as Napster, Internet linking, and the antitrust case against Microsoft. This will keep the material fresh for years to come! I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about technology law. It's a winner!

If you have a college degree, good income, own a home, and prefer a do-it-yourself explanation, this is the book for you. It is written by laywers and describes partnership situations in detail with legal/financial tools to apply. In some cases, it gets down to state by state specifics (Vermont's same-sex law, Hawaii's beneficiary law, etc). It deals with houses & other property, stocks & bank accounts, wills & inheritance, children, prior marriages, and even breaking up.

If you are still 'building your credit history' or want to learn about 'life insurance policies', then buy one of the simpler books. If you are an educated anal-rententive meticulously detail-oriented gay adult, then this is the book for you. You can skip the others.

Great reference for all of us to stand up for the right to be who we are.

This guide has been highly resourceful in the lives of my partner and I. There is not a day that goes by that we do not reference it. It is written in a very easy to understand format and contains several templates for "Durable Power of Attorney"s, etc. I highly recommend this book. Anyone interested in emailing me, just remove "no-spam" from my address.

I really enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone who is in a LGBT relationship. I especially enjoy the CD-ROM that it includes so you can type up your own forms as a way to protect yourself and your partner.

This guide has been highly resourceful in the lives of my partner and I. There is not a day that goes by that we do not reference it. It is written in a very easy to understand format and contains several templates for "Durable Power of Attorneys", etc. I highly recommend this book. Anyone interested in emailing me.

I first purchased "Patent it yourself" by David Pressman and distributed by Nolo. This book is on the same level. Very clear and concise. It is not an attorney, but boy does it give you the necessary terminology and concepts that will dramatically increase your understanding of the licensing process. If you have any doubts, go to the Nolo website and listen to a podcast about the subject matter that will be covered and then make your decision. In my opinion...Great buy!!

First of all I think the book (the most recent edition as well as earlier versions) is first rate and I highly recommend it. Although the book is geared for do-it-yourself licensors, it is also terrific to help people who are looking for an attorney or who have one they are already working with. Having been a attorney focusing on intellectual property licensing for more than 30 years and teaching licensing to non-lawyer grad students, I know first hand that this book is a comprehensive albeit superficial overview of the licensing process. Despite how good the book is, it will not transform the reader into intellectual property licensing expert.

In the real world, licensing situations often become far more complicated than the impression the book provides. That is especially true when you are trying to negotiate with a large company with experienced IP lawyers. Its like trying to out negotiate a car salesman when buying a car. What the book does impart is a much greater knowledge of the overall landscape. The more you know, the better it is to work with your own lawyer to help you through the complications. People license to make money so the better the license, the more money that can be made.

Also beware that the book seems to focus mostly on patent licensing as opposed to other forms of intellectual property where the strategies and nuances are different. Again, this is only slight criticism as I did very much like the book. It is definitely a useful read for neophytes to licensing.

Joe Hustein

If you've invented a commercially viable product or service - especially if it's patentable - this reference book will help you with the next steps. It's much more about the legal aspects and other issues that go on AFTER you've got your golden egg and start soliciting companies, partners for licensing agreements....Definitely for serious inventors willing to persevere. I would have liked more case studies from Stim's past, but realize that confidentiality may not have allowed it.

This book is very educational about how to go about the licensing process. It's very easy reading, not the technical boring style. The included software is a major plus! You can customize the included licensing contracts.

Michael Waller
Iconium Clothing...

If you have a patented or a patentable invention and have decided not to manufacture or market it yourself, but wish to license a company to do so, this book is for you. In fact, it is a must read. The book covers not only the licensing of inventions but the licensing of trade secrets and copyrights.

As the author points out, manufacturing your invention yourself (venturing) is often not the wisest course. Few inventors have the funds or the experience to run a successful business venture. Also the cost of fighting infringers can be financially devastating for a new enterprise.

Perhaps the greatest strength of this book is its ability to explain legal terms and legal fine points in down to earth, everyday, language. An example of the practical approach this book takes is when the author comments: "Sad as it may seem, you may be better off with no license at all than a licensee that has a reputation for acting unethically".

He further notes that finding the right partner for a license can be harder than inventing and patenting. The author points out how some common agreements you as an inventor may make may have an impact your ability to license. He cites ten examples. One is a representation (rep) agreement that may require paying the rep a percentage of your license even though the rep was not involved in negotiating it!

How commercial is your invention? A list of 33 areas and factors to check is given. When you consider that only two or three out of a 100 new inventions succeed, it is well worth your time to go over this list early on. The book notes even brilliant inventions may be ignored by the public if the price is too high.

While many inventors worry about infringers, you should also be aware of the fact that "Many patent owners use their patents to earn more money stopping infringers than from selling the invention". An area that inventors seldom worry about is how their spouse may affect their license. Under various state laws, not only can spouses share ordinary property, but they can share intellectual property as well. Their signature on an assignment may be required.

Similar to this is the vital importance of spelling out the rights involved in a joint ownership agreement. A three page form for doing this is given in the book. A convenient feature of this book is that copies of forms appear alongside the subject under discussion. The forms also appear in the appendix and on a floppy disk located on the inside back cover of the book. (17 forms are provided.)

Several pages are devoted to the subject of invention marketing scams and on how to recognize a phony marketing company. Despite the best efforts of state and federal law agencies, scams take American inventors for hundreds of millions of dollars every year. If you do nothing else, read these pages.

For various reasons, companies fear and resist ideas from an outside source. The author offers suggestions for overcoming the "kooky loner" image that Hollywood has foisted on the public with regard to inventors. On the other hand, there are some companies that steal ideas and it behooves the inventor to check out their reputations before disclosing anything without an agreement.

The author discusses the very important topics of GMAR (guaranteed minimum annual royalty), how "net sales" figures can be modified by nine types of deductions, and he examines twelve factors affecting royalties.

A twelve page license agreement is presented and a thorough point by point discussion is made. Here and elsewhere in the book "legalese" is avoided and when it cannot be avoided a plain and simple explanation is given. For example, attorneys use a method called "redline/strikeout" to revise agreements. The author reduces this to plain English.

An eight page checklist for reviewing your license agreement is provided. It tells you what keywords, what phrases, and what terms need to be analyzed. It also refers you to the proper chapter for more information. Regarding "legalese", the author gives a fundamental bit of advice: "If a lawyer can't explain your situation clearly to you, he probably won't be able to explain it clearly to a judge or jury".

This is the first edition of this book. This reviewer suspects it will join David Pressman's Patent It Yourself (now in its seventh edition) as an absolute must read for inventors.