Patent Pending in 24 Hours

Product Details

Ready to stamp "patent pending" on your invention? Then you need to file a provisional patent application (PPA), an inexpensive way to claim your hard work. With a PPA, you'll have time to figure out whether you can make a profit from your creation before you invest more time and money.

With Patent Pending in 24 Hours, you have all the forms and information you need to get the job done! Find out how to:

*evaluate hurdles to patentability
*write a clear PPA
*prepare informal drawings of your invention
*conduct a patent search online
*understand basic patent law
*complete all forms required by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
*file your application
*modify your invention after filing

The book also includes important legal forms to help you preserve your rights when showing or selling your invention:

nondisclosure agreement
patent assignment
prototype-maker agreement
joint-ownership agreement

The 4th edition is completely revised with updated case law and patent regulations, updated filing information and new application examples.

Product Reviews

(5 stars) - Very Informative Book
Book was well written and easy to follow. It is full of good information if you are considering submitting a patent application.

(1 stars) - get a lawyer
As a lawyer, I find the idea of learning enough from this book, Patent Pending in 24 Hours, to file a provisional patent application within 24 hours "patently" ridiculous. Here's why.

First, a provisional application is not an informal application. To claim for priority purposes the provisional application's one year period in a regular application subsequently filed, the provisional application must meet all the disclosure requirements of a regular application. There is no distinction between the disclosure requirements of a provisional application and a regular application. The disclosure requirements may sometimes seem simple, but they are complicated. If your idea is valuable, your patent will be challenged. To save yourself enormous heartache in a priority dispute later, have a lawyer with years of experience and training look at the application before you file it rather than trust your own 24 hours of experience and lack of training.

Second, a good patent attorney does a thorough review of the prior art. Inventors may know they have an idea, and therefore believe they have invented something, but the Patent Office has information on a mind boggling number of inventions. A good patent lawyer will look over previous inventions and help you refine your invention with an eye towards surviving a serious challenge in the PTO or in court later. It is not uncommon for inventors to be told by their attorney that their invention as they first pictured it is old. However, by working with an attorney the invention can be tweaked to make sure it's new and not already covered by a patent already filed. This search of the prior art and refinement of the invention takes more than 24 hours. A patent attorney's expertise is invaluable during this search. By working with an attorney early, you can gain a better idea sooner of what the invention is that you will be marketing. Otherwise you may spend a lot of time marketing an invention that is not patentable because it is old, and when you file the regular patent application you may have to change the application substantially to make the invention new (which makes it more difficult to claim that the invention in the provisional application is the same in the regular application).

Patent applications are a precise art that makes even lawyers with years of training careful about anything they file. Maybe this book provides some interesting background information, but it takes a lot more than 24 hours to be a good patent attorney or agent. If your idea is worthless, go ahead and file a provisional application within 24 hours, but see a lawyer if you hope to protect any value your idea might have.

(4 stars) - Worth Buying
I was initially dismayed to discover that a large part of this book is actually made up of several complete, existing patents (which I could have found on the web) and felt just a little jipped. However after I'd read the first half of the book I realized that these were very well chosen examples illustrating the critical points of the process, and really the only way to illustrate those points. It is a simple, straightforward book, a little lighter in 'weight' than you'd expect given the number of pages, but the only book I have come across that is dedicated to provisional patents. A fabulous book? No. Worth buying? If you want to know about Provisional Patents - Yes.

(5 stars) - Simple. Complete. Excellent.
I bought this book to work an idea I had. This book put me on solid grounds from, how to think like an inventor to how to file for the provisional patent. Loved reading this book. Very informative for newbies. Loved it. Will recommend it.

(3 stars) - Good reference but dated and incomplete
I bought this book because I needed to file a Provisional Patent Application (PPA). However, I found it to be somewhat incomplete and other information wasn't updated from older editions. There is even a reference to floppy disks! There are also lots of references telling you to buy their other book Patent It Yourself for a full description. They do this quite a bit. They even say this in the other book I purchased How to Make Patent Drawings: A Patent It Yourself Companion. I couldn't believe it! I bought that book because I thought it would cover everything about the drawings. I honestly wish I had bought Patent It Yourself instead. Even though I'm not filing a full patent yet. The other thing that annoys me in this book is that there is no section that simply outlines the structure of a PPA. They do it over a series of chapters. But they don't have a simple outline to follow once you have read all those chapters. The last half of the book (actually more than half) has nothing but other people's Provisional Patent Apps. Every single one of which you can find for free online. They also don't provide a CD or downloadable document template. They even have a few sample legal documents like Non Disclosures and Joint Ownership. But they expect you to photocopy these out of the book which measures approximately 7" x 9". How unprofessional would that look walking into a meeting to license your idea? Overall I found the book to be quite bare and the victim of too many sloppy edition updates. Save yourself the money and just buy Patent It Yourself.

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