Attorney Online Forms and Downloads
- Patent Intake Form
- Trademark Intake Form
- Copyright Intake Form (Under Construction)
- Flowchart Depicting the Patenting Process
Warnings on Invention Services Companies
It is important to note that Patent Attorneys have an ethical duty to provide their clients with reasonable service or face the possibility of losing their license and as a result their income. Invention promotion companies are not subject to such ethical duties but only to contract law. Look for the guarantees in the contract!
- United States Patent and Trademark Office "Scam Prevention" site.
- IPWatchdog Blog Post - "Avoiding Invention Promotion Scams" .
- National Inventor Fraud Center - A website dedicated to providing information to consumers about invention promotion companies and how people can market their ideas.
- Federal Trade Commission Article - Invention Promotion Firms.
Governmental Entities
IP Software Tools and Educational Resources
- AcclaimIP - Providers of the patent search software I use.
- Wolters Kluwer Law & Business - Source of great legal books on patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
- Bloomberg BNA - Another source of great legal books on patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
- Practising Law Institute (PLI) - PLI is used by attorneys everywhere to get publications and online courses on all fields of law including Intellectual Property.
- Patent Resources Group - Patent Resources Group provides courses and publications in all aspects of patent practice, in both print and electronic formats, for professionals at all levels of experience. The company conducts patent training programs in major cities and destinations, over the Internet, and on-site at companies and law firms. Our customers are located on every continent.
IP Blogs and Websites
- The IPKat - This blog, one of my favorites, has many entries in an easy to read format on copyright, patent, trade mark, info-tech and privacy/confidentiality issues.
- IPWatchdog - One of the leading IP website on the Internet and recognized as one of the top 100 legal blogs by the American Bar Association for 5 years in a row.
- Requirements to be a Patent Attorney - Just in case you are curious, the requirements to be a patent attorney in the USA are discussed on this Wikipedia page.
- Key Cases and Definitions in Intellectual Property Law - An article written by Washington University school of law in St. Louis. The article provides an introduction to copyrights, trademarks, and patents and is a great source information for the lay person looking at how to protect their intellectual property.
