Not So Obvious: An Introduction to Patent Law and Strategy

An Introduction to Patent Law and Strategy This book was written by Jeffrey Schox for his course "Patent Law and Strategy for Innovators and Entrepreneurs" at Stanford University. After an introduction to intellectual property, it answers the questions: How does the patent system work? What is an invention? Is the invention patentable? When should the patent application be filed? Does the invention infringe any patents? and Who owns the patent application? The book was written before the passage of the America Invents Act ("AIA"), which transforms the U.S. patent system from a "first-to-invent" system to a "first-inventor-to-file" system. This transformation, which will affect less than 10% of the book, does not take effect until March 2013. The author plans to revise this book in September 2012.