Intellectual Property Books

Great Book. This book touches many of the issues that are pertinent for analysis of the law and cyberspace. It seems that the law is nowhere in cyberspace to most people, but this book helps explain how the law works within these confines.

I really like the examples and novel ideas for how to combat problems with lawlessness in cyberspace.

Anyone interested in the law or interested in cyberspace should get this book in order to see how some of the current issues are addressed and also to give a heads up on many of the issues that may or may not be troubling. I would recommend this to everyone, from the curious beginning user to the advanced internet user.

When the ancient Israelites wandered through the desert, their sustenance was from a food called Manna. In Hebrew, the word Manna comes from the root of two words that mean What is It?

When it comes to the Internet, many legalists look at this system of interconnected networks and ask, What is it? This topic is the theme of Stuart Biegel's timely and well-written book, Beyond Our Control? Biegel writes from real-world experience; he is an attorney and teaches cyber law at UCLA. While the lawyers and legal scholars consult case law and their legalistic tomes, Beyond Our Control provides non-lawyers with tremendous background on the issues now surrounding our legal systems and the Internet.

One of the questions the book tackles is whether the Internet and cyberspace is a revolutionary new medium requiring its own set of legal policies, or if it is simply an evolutionary technology that can exist under current legal regulations. The question is significant, as such differences can determine whether or not a song downloaded from the Internet is a criminal offense, who has jurisdiction when a threatening email is transmitted, and the legal nature of a distributed denial of service attack.

There is a common perception that the Internet is a like the uncontrolled wastelands of the Wild West, and Biegel uses the Wild West analogy to compare the Internet to movies such as Shane, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and Cimarron. It is important to note that Biegel astutely asserts that it is generally agreed that the Wild West imagery of popular culture comes not from the history books, but from the western films. Beigel quotes historian Jim Kites, who describes the excitement that many find in the Wild West (and equally with the Internet) by saying, it is placed at exactly that moment when options are still open, the dream of primitivistic individualism, the ambivalence of at once beneficent and threatening horizons, are still open... For many involved in cyberspace (especially in the open source movement), they see the Internet as a place where such options are still open.

Yet, the romantic notion of the Internet has often run head long into the law. A main theme of the book centers on how to deal with P2P file sharing, such as MP3 files through Napster and Gnutella. For users, such a practice was considered an extension of their own music libraries; for the RIAA, it was outright thievery. This ease of use in downloading music caused an uproar among music executives and the ultimate demise of Napster as a corporate entity.

Yet while many perceive cyberspace as unregulated, Biegel shows that although there are not as many laws for cyberspace as there are for aviation, for example, cyberspace is nonetheless significantly regulated. Biegel shows how the Federal Trade Commission has transformed itself from a sleepy back-office establishment in Washington, DC, to a protector of consumers on the Internet. The book describes the success of the FTC in fighting cyber crime, which flies in the face of the non-regulated cyberspace myth. Biegel shows how cyberspace has been regulated in a very stringent fashion by the FTC and how consumer protection laws are working there. Biegel also notes that there are more U.S. laws governing copying in the online world than most people even realize.

The book takes a look at how the Internet can and should be regulated. The question of International law also comes up, and Beigel notes that some people believe the Internet isn't truly a global medium at all, but simply an extension of the United States. With that, the question of International law regulating an entity that is controlled by the United States becomes interesting.

My only personal criticism of the book is Biegel's use of the term Netizens to describe users of the Internet. Personally, I don't think cyberspace users should have their own taxonomy any more than those who use cell phones.

Although some readers of may opine that they have little value in reading about the current state of cyber law, I strongly recommend reading Beyond Our Control. Most of us may not be lawyers, but the topics in the book -- cyber-security, consumer fraud, free speech rights, intellectual property rights, file-sharing programs, and more -- affect us all.

"...accept the inevitable and advocate for sensible legislation"?

That's just what we need at this point, to throw in the towel and step aside as the State finds yet another way to trample the rights of the individual. Biegel has it totally backwards, now is the time to take a stand and ensure that the Interent becomes the beginning of the end of the tyranny of State intrusion into the mechanisms of the market and individual liberty.

Well written, clear and to the point. This book is a sure how-to guide for navigating through the copywrite world.

I have read the book and have founded it to be very useful. The author emphasizes that it is best to write your own work for publication. If you wish to use somebody else work, then it is best to get his permission. The author points out that it could be cheaper than you think. I would recommend this book for someone who wants to write seriously.

Copyright law has become a matter of serious concern in recent years - so how do you use anything without getting sued? "Getting Permission: How to License & Clear Copyrighted Materials Online and Off" is a guide for anyone in a business situation where they will have to use someone else's creative license for their own. The guide covers the permission process, public domain issues, finding the copyright holder to get permission, fair use, and other issues that often crop up in this field. Enhanced with a CD-ROM which compiles the information in an easy to search format, "Getting Permission: How to License & Clear Copyrighted Materials Online and Off" is highly recommended to any business who often use other company's copyrights, and community library business collections.

This book covers the basics of the legal and business aspects of being a photographer. Duboff wastes no words. The book is thoughtful, concise, well organized and easy to read. The court cases he cites are interesting and thought provoking as well as useful information. This book is an invaluable reference for setting up a professional photography business.

I have a small internet business and found a couple of chapters in this book to be helpful, but found many parts of it to be too general. The author genuinely offers some good advice, the problem is, that is just too little. There are so many types of businesses out there, and I feel like this is just the bare bones of what it could be. To me, it would be better if this book was 2 times longer. For a skim over of basic business law, I would give this a go, but for a more in depth picture of what you need to know, I would go to something that has a little more info.

Another great reference book for the small business owner. Very up to date. It includes a chapter on doing business on the Internet.

In his preface, author David J. Teece promises a theoretical framework for understanding intellectual property and practical advice about managing it. Theory ultimately prevails in this book, but valuable nuggets of managerial guidance await any entrepreneur willing to dig for them. As a professor and as the presenter of Oxford's Clarendon Lecture in Management Studies, from which this book is drawn, Teece naturally tends toward abstract thinking. Some of the territory has been traveled before (i.e. the message that bureaucratic, hierarchical organizations tend to stifle innovation) but Teece adds a lot of intriguing material. We [...] believe analytically minded academics, entrepreneurs and executives will find Teece's volume illuminating, most notably his educated perspective on antitrust activism in the high tech arena. He concludes that government regulators should probably stick to regulating industries they understand. Well, if they want to understand intellectual property, they should start here.

This is an excellent book on the knowledge-based view of the firm. Although Teece is unsure in his preface whoether is succesfully addresses both academic audiences and managers. From an academic perspective, I can surely claim that this book is theoretically interesting. I recognized two portions of this book that draw heavily on Teece's work published previously in California Management Review (parts of Chapter 1 and all of chapter 4). What is certainly most interesting out of the 300 pages of small type is Section 2. This section provides a compelling set of arguments on the impact of market structures and governance modes on intellectual capital. Notabily missing, however, is incorporation of the knowledge-integration perspective that Grant et. al have been building for the past half decade. The case study on Pilkinton Glass is also well worn, and Teece clearly acknowledges that. Information technologists should not hold thier breath because this work seems to take a rather passive stand on the role of IT in mobilizing intellectual assets. The references at the end provide an impressive array of literature in economics that Teece draws on. The readibility and plausibility of Teece's arguments should come as no surprise to anyone who has read Teece's earlier scholarly work. Overall, I'd say that this was worth the thirty five dollars.

You are about to realize a misconception between two related but different terms: intellectual capital and intellectual property. Browsing throughout the book you will hardly find any references to intellectual capital, including a brief definition! Thus you should not be surprised by not finding any reference to intellectual capital in the Index. One would expect some heated discussion over this controversial concept before being offered a framework to manage it. Forget it. Despite author's attempt to write about the promising field of IC all sections seem to converge around the intellectual property discussion. The management of intellectual capital is something else than the management of intellectual capital. The wrong audiences may than be easily caught in this trap.

This is a very useful and practical book especially for musicians like myself who want to know how their music is legally protected. Its written in an easy to understand style with lots of interesting examples. If you want to learn about copyright, this book is well worth it.

Being in the copyright profession I have read numerous copyright and IP related books and this one is the worst one I have ever suffered through. I actually had Moser as a professor in college and thought I would give his book a try. I'm not sure why since every student hated his class with a passion. But I figured surely his book would be somewhat better.....I was wrong. This book is no different than most of what is out there. It gives no new perspective, just rehashes the same old same old we have been hearing about for years. I had a hard time with this book keeping my attention. If you are completely new to copyright and IP one could benefit, but I think there are other books out there that are easier to read and give a great overview. If you are an IP "scholar" skip it completely. You will be bored to tears.

Music Copyright For The New Millennium is an extremely useful reference for anyone involved in the music industry. The book's author, David Moser, writes in a very easy to understand style and provides many examples and tips to illustrate how copyright law really applies to real life situations. It also clears up many of the common misconceptions musicians have about registering copyrights, co-ownership of songs, etc. The last chapter which covers the most currently controversial issues involving copyright and the use of music on Internet is especially informative. If this book existed when I started my career in the music industry, I would have been much more knowledgeable and avoided many problems.

This book takes off from the common observation that something is
severely broken about our view of creativity and knowledge. The
observation is usually directed to legal policies ("intellectual
property" regimes) but has implications for economic thinking and
culture as well. The book applies research in communities ranging from
indigenous peoples to computer hackers to seek new legal and economic
alternatives to foster creativity.

Each chapter in this book has something to offer, even to readers who
are already following current controversies over music sharing,
reverse engineering of source code, patent reform, etc. The chapters
that cover well-known controversies do so in unusual depth and with
refreshingly bold recommendations.

In addition to these chapters, many others offer interesting
perspectives, such as Paul A. David's look at the history of the
scientific method, and several anthropologists writing about the
sophistication of views among indigenous peoples on creativity and the
ownership of knowledge. Like Jon Ippolito in his review, I found the
anthropological writings tough to get through, but a second reading
always revealed their key points.

This book contains some important historical documents, some good
exercises to stretch your mind, and some truly promising directions to
explore in order to fix the system that controls and rewards the
dissemination of knowledge.

If you think peer-to-peer collaboration is the exclusive province of 21st-century computer nerds, this hefty anthology will open your eyes to its precedents among indigenous cultures and its growing offshoots in pursuits as lofty as genomics and as mundane as proofreading.

Readers accustomed to open software manifestos by programmers like Richard Stallman or Eric Raymond will find much of this volume phrased in the academic lingo of economics or political science rather than geekspeak; the writing in the first section, mostly by anthropologists, can be turgid. But don't let that deter you, for the book's first section contains some of the most nuanced perspectives on the concept of the cultural and economic "commons"--in particular, on how its European variant is only a simplistic reflection of its older and more complicated origin among native peoples.

From anthropology the book winds its way through economics, public policy, and the life sciences, ranging from flights of theory to examples grounded in local cultures. (Did you know that copyright is stifling folk singers in Irish pubs, or that the Aboriginal word for "property" is the same as their word for "relative"?)

A particular eye-opener is Yochai Benkler's "Coase's Penguin," which traces commons-based collaboration in such diverse fields as NASA crater identification, encyclopedia writing, and proofreading--noting that the quality of anonymous contributions of online volunteers to such cultural and scientific production is often indistinguishable from that of paid professionals. John Clippinger and David Bollier's "Renaissance of the Commons," on the other hand, is a manifesto for open culture grounded in scientific revelations from recent research in neuroscience and behavioral psychology. It's an essay guaranteed to make copyright maximalists frown and commons advocates jump out of their seat and say, "Yes, I knew it!"

CODE is a circuitous but rewarding examination of open collaboration, a theory and practice poised to revolutionize the fields represented in this book and beyond.

If your business viability depends on the ongoing creation of new patentable ideas, this book might well be of interest to you. Donal O'Connell shows you how to decide if you need a "patent factory", how to organize one, and how to get the best return from your inventions. He shows you how to use third part resources including services to protect your patents and how to license them profitably.

You will also be interested in how to use metrics to measure your factory's performance, how to manage its costs, and how to select tools to help you manage the process effectively.

This is not a book for the general business audience, but it certainly has value for its target audience.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Mr. O'Connell sees the production of patents in terms of a factory analogy, with everything that this implies and entails - raw materials (inventions) going in one end and product (patents) coming out the other, factory machinery and operatives, quality control procedures, production targets, cost controls and use of toll manufacturing (subcontracting parts (or even all) of the process to external suppliers and specialised services), and the management and coordination of all of the above. Mr. O'Connell is not specific as to the nature of this Patent Factory, not, I believe, because he won't, but simply because he can't and he is sensible not to try. He knows that one size won't fit all - what works for an international pharma or telecommunications giant with a huge portfolio won't necessarily work for a small local engineering firm with a small portfolio. So he presents a large palette of ideas, from which anyone interested can mix'n'match his or her own patents factory according to needs/demands.

Although I find the factory analogy quite a good one overall, I think it has several shortcomings, namely in the matters of quality of raw materials and production targets. How does one maintain quality in "patentable inventions"? More importantly, how does one ensure a constant flow of such inventions? Nobody I know has yet managed to create to order - unless there were creative people there in the first place.

However, the overriding idea of the Patent Factory, be it a one (wo)man-band or a large, self-contained in-house department, is one of control. There must be someone, be it an individual or a department, with a clear strategy, overseeing the factory, its input, its output, its quality control, its outsourcing, its budget, its relations with other parts of the company and with senior management. To me, the really important message of this book is that there has to be some sort of in-house function, even if only a coordinator. This Factory should also set down standards for external attorneys, not of course in patent professional terms as to how an invention should be drafted, claimed and prosecuted, but in strategic terms by imparting the Company strategic vision to the attorneys, and making them an integral part of its achievement.

Anyone seeking the answers to all of his or her patent problems will not find them in this book. But one will be confronted with the facts that one needs to have a coherent patent policy, strategies for the efficient obtaining and maintaining IPR and the extraction of maximum benefit therefrom, and some way of implementing it all with the maximum possible efficiency, including cost control. These concepts alone will be news to many smaller companies. There are also very clear chapters on patent procedures, refreshingly free of patent jargon.

One of the problems I have with the book is the occasional (and perhaps unconscious) drifting towards the idea that patents are ends in themselves, rather than tools for extracting maximum commercial advantage. I think this is because Mr. O'Connell seems to have a tendency to believe that good material will inevitably end up as good, strong "quality" patents, as he calls them. This, with respect, completely ignores the recent catastrophic decline in standards of patent examination in the USPTO in particular. In addition, there is some repetition.

This is an invaluable book for the small organisation that has some patents, but which wants to organise and control its patent affairs a bit better - the book is a positive mine of useful ideas. It is also useful for the private practitioner, in that it puts him or her in the position of the client, seeing things from the client's point of view, and that can only be a good thing.

One of the biggest mistakes inventors make is the failure to maintain adequate records for their inventions. This is often due to not understanding the vital importance of proper records from the standpoint of the U.S. patent laws. The law mandates that only the first and true inventor shall receive a patent.

The Inventor's Notebook is primarily designed to provide the inventor with the records you will need to legally prove you are the "first and true inventor". Please note that it does not offer legal advice. Only your patent attorney or a patent agent can advise you as to the current state of the law with regard to your specific invention. Also, to better understand and appreciate its purpose, you should also read and study a good up-to-date guide to patent law, such as David Pressman's Patent It Yourself.

In addition to providing the means to prove you are legally the first to invent, the Inventor's Notebook provides you with guidelines for making decisions regarding patentability, commerciality, and whether other paths could be taken -- e.g., keeping your invention a trade secret. The book is divided into four main parts -- a work diary, legal protection, marketing and financing.

The work diary section gives you examples of how to record your invention with regard to its conception, purpose, description, operation, novelty, prior art and what the advantages of your invention are. It stresses the importance of drawing a line through blank sections to prevent others from later claiming material was added after the page was prepared, dated and witnessed. Entries must be made in ink and pencil sketches should be photocopied. The proper method for adding photos is also given.

The legal section explains the importance of and how to make a prior art search. The term, "prior art", in patent law means any material that can be found that was on record before the date you conceived your invention and that might be used to deny your right to a patent. This includes prior patents, magazine articles, technical journals, books, catalogs, etc.

The legal section includes pages for the recording of contacts made while developing your invention with emphasis on securing confidentiality agreements to protect your invention. It also stresses the extreme importance of the "one year rule", which requires that you must file your patent application within one year of the date on which you first publish, publicly use, sell or offer your invention, or any product that embodies same, for sale.

The marketing section notes that you should avoid the trap many first-time inventors fall into -- namely, spending vast amounts of time, energy and money on your invention before checking out its commercial potential. It also warns of the very common trap of paying money to an "invention developer" who, quite often, cannot even furnish the names of any successful clients. The book provides a list of 34 positive factors and 21 negative factors for evaluating your invention.

The marketing section also contains "Potential User Survey" forms and some recommendations for doing market researching. Also, it contains forms for recording your own study of "Relevant Market Trends" and a list of questions you should ask yourself regarding forming a decision as to manufacturing it yourself, distributing it yourself or selecting companies to do it for you. In addition, four pages of information regarding Internet Web pages useful to inventors are provided. This includes "A Cyberpreneur's Guide to the Internet". Today the Internet not only provides vast amounts of information but it also can be used to promote your invention.

The financial section contains guides and checklists for your budget estimates and for selling your invention or for seeking capital.

The back of the book contains lists of publications about patenting, business and books of interest to inventors. Also in the back of the book are tear-out copies of a "Consultants Work Agreement", "Proprietary Materials Agreement", "Positive and Negative Factor Evaluation Form" and a "Universal License Agreement Form". In addition, a six-page glossary is included covering 13 functions such as springs, shape, optics and fluid flow. This can be a great aid when you are at a loss of words to describe the parts and functioning of your invention. It clues you in on the terms patent examiners most often see. Using these terms will also make your invention more understandable to your patent attorney or agent.

This is a superb book. Every serious inventor should own a copy. The price is very low and its value to you is very high. It is simple to understand and is without the "legalese" some authors use to impress readers.

Yes, this is a very good book. To the point, with much useful information. It IS A WORKBOOK with mostly blank forms to document your invention. It does not have the volume of information I was expecting. I do think it is a good book though, just don't buy it as a first book. It was printed as a companion to "Patent it Yourself".

Note the title -- for Scientists and Engineers. This is not an in depth text that will make you a patent attorney. This is also not a go get a patent yourself type book. This is an introduction to the process of getting a patent and what it is that you have after you get one.

When you work with a patent attorney, the first thing that he has to do is explain to you what you need to do, how you need to document things, the procedure that you're going to have to go through and a whole lot more. This procedure is long and tedious. If the lawyer has to sit and explain it to you, he's going to charge you a bunch. This book does that job for a lot less money, and probably does a better job.

There's one point that needs stressing. After you file for the patent, the application will be declined. This seems to be an unwritten rule of the Patent Office. If they reject it, you're supposed to refile if you think it's worth while. Sort of a test to see if you're serious.

This book covers the fundamental aspects of patents. The main emphasis is on the US patent system, with a lesser amount of material on Canadian and international patents in general. After a brief history of the patent system, major chapters cover, specifics of the US patent system, Canadian patent system, what are the requirements for an invention to be patented, interpretation of patents as technical literature, patents as legal documents, and what information is needed to defend a patent.
Summary information of the major steps in the current US patent procedurses is outlined. Along with this, a basic glossary rounds out the books contents.
Overall, the material is presented in a clear and consistent pattern. Not a lot of depth of discussion is presented in any one area. The author's intent was to give a brief introduction to the entire area of patents, their uses, limitations, and requirements rather than delve into the arcania of specifics.
The main audience is technical professionals that need a brief background introduction to some of the major concepts involved. The majority of examples are taken from chemical process, substance, and method patents

In this book, Andrew Mertha examines the impact of external pressure on China's policymaking and implementation processes in the area of intellectual property rights (IPR). He treats the Chinese IPR regime as the result of a two-level game played both at the international and domestic levels. This allows him to show that while external pressure may play a pivotal role in getting Beijing to promulgate IPR-related laws and regulations, the enforcement of these edicts falls within the domain of China's complex bureaucracies and local government officials. Mertha's focus on the interplay between international, national, and local dynamics leads him to meticulously trace the process of policy formulation within the U.S. Trade Representative, the interactions of the latter body with Chinese officials, and the complex maze of bureaucratic entities that are subsequently handed the task of enforcement. The result is a work that makes a significant empirical contribution to the knowledge on intellectual property rights and related U.S.-China interactions.

That being said, the depth and detail of Mertha's analysis sometimes makes it unwieldy. His analysis is complex and nuanced, but it is sometimes unclear that his independent and intervening variables are the only causes for change, or which one is more important. For example, was lateral exogenous pressure or dynamic institutional structure the driving force in facilitating effective trademark enforcement? Also, considering his attention to detail, it is interesting that Mertha neglects to talk much about the "pirates" or perpetrators of IPR violations themselves. Mertha's heavy focus on interviews with bureaucrats and businesspeople makes the reader wonder if he might be missing another dimension of the story. In addition, Mertha's case would be somewhat stronger if he could prove that the center was genuinely committed to IPR enforcement--by showing that IPR has become a legal norm, for example. China's legal history suggests that the concept of intellectual property as owned by individuals was virtually nonexistent; copying was even thought to be a sign of respect for the original owner, its theft an "elegant offense" (as argued elsewhere by William Alford). Although Mertha dismisses simplistic cultural explanations, it is plausible that there is no real gap in legislative intent and on-the-ground enforcement, and rather, that everyone has agreed to pretend to take the issue seriously when the situation warrants it. If true, this assertion would greatly weaken the author's findings.

Those flaws aside, Mertha brings a considerable wealth of empirical information to bear on a very timely and interesting issue. He does an excellent job explicitly outlining the significance of his study for scholars of China and for the larger endeavor of political science. His commitment to explicitly addressing the falsifiability of his claims and exploring alternate explanations is also admirable. Moreover, Mertha's analysis has obvious policy implications, since it essentially illuminates potential pressure points in the Chinese system. A policymaker reading it might deduce that attention should be shifted away from demanding changes in legislation at the national level and directed to working with local authorities wherever problems are discovered. Also, the author's sharp distinction between formal ratification and compliance implies that greater attention should be paid to the institutions that enforce regulations, in addition to the word-smithing of the laws themselves. Overall, this book makes a valuable contribution that strikes out into a new direction and leaves rooms for others to build upon its insights. It will be interesting to see how widely generalizable these findings are to other issue areas, given the highly international and technical nature of intellectual property rights. However, Mertha's work could benefit from closer attention to norms, more clearly delineated causal mechanisms, and cases drawn from other issue areas and domestic settings.

Andrew Mertha's book made my life harder. Deep in the writing of a paper on Chinese intellectual property, I received word that his book was available days before a deadline. That alone makes him a target of my ire. But ultimately, my research benefited from this book.

Mertha weaves a tale that utilizes anecdotes and current research to show how government policy towards IP in China is changing while cultural notions of IP remain unformed. Laws are enforced, but only from the top down. Does this mean China is failing at enforcement? Not fully. What it means, according to Mertha and my own research, is that China is only now becoming convinced that IP has any positive benefits for its own development, now that Chinese nationals are themselves begin to become creators and owners of property and ideas they want to protect. The government might yield to pressure from the international community to enact laws, but real change, when IP is recognized to have benefits for China, will only occur as the Chinese become more savvy creators, writers, and inventors.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in the engaging, if highly academic, field of intellectual property.