Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Introduction.

Part I: Corralling Your IP Assets: Intellectual Property Basics.

Chapter 1: Marshalling Your IP Tools.

Chapter 2: Fencing In the Herd.

Chapter 3: Calling in the Cavalry and Picking Up the Tab.

Chapter 4: Trade Secrets: Often-Overlooked IP Tools.

Part II: Going for the Gold: Patenting Your Product.

Chapter 5: Understanding Patents and How They Work.

Chapter 6: Testing the Patent Water Before You Dive in.

Chapter 7: Hoping It Ain’t There: The Patent Search.

Chapter 8: Preparing Your Patent Application.

Chapter 9: Filing Your Patent Application.

Chapter 10: Wrestling with the Patent Examiner.

Chapter 11: Reeling In the Prize: Getting Your Patent Issued.

Part III: Asserting Your Copyrights.

Chapter 12: If It’s Got Style, You’ve Got Copyrights.

Chapter 13: Untangling Ownership Issues.

Chapter 14: Giving Your Copyright Fangs.

Part IV: Protecting Your Commerical Identity.

Chapter 15: Flashing Your Badge.

Chapter 16: Coining the Next Household Name.

Chapter 17: Searching for Name Availability.

Chapter 18: Establishing and Registering Your Commercial Identifier.

Part V: Making Your IP Rights Work for You.

Chapter 19: All Abroad: Protecting Your IP Rights in Other Countries.

Chapter 20: Making ’Em Pay: Licensing Your IP Rights.

Chapter 21: Catching Them Rustlers (Infringers).

Part VI: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 22: Ten Most Common IP Misconceptions.

Chapter 23: Ten Patent Application Pitfalls.

Chapter 24: Ten Practical Copyright FAQs.

Chapter 25: The Ten Worst Naming Blunders.

Appendix: How to Use the CD-ROM.

Index.

Henri Charmasson is an attorney with a 35-year career in the field of intellectual property (IP) law. He has been a naming adviser to major corporations. Henri is also an inventor with his name on 15 U.S. patents and an entrepreneur who sits on the board of several small business corporations. In his early engineering career, Henri designed computer hardware. Henri has authored several articles and delivered lectures on patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret topics, and written an authoritative treatise about the art of naming companies and branding new products. Born, raised, and educated in sunny Provence, France, he’s found in California the ideal place to exert his enterprising spirit.

John Buchaca, also an Intellectual Property law attorney, is a former software engineer and occasional inventor, and has worked with Henri for more than 15 years. Indeed, when Henri wrote the first edition of this book, John regarded himself as the “first dummy.” Before becoming a lawyer, he worked in ocean acoustics analysis and modeling and computer programming. His undergraduate degree is in applied mathematics. But his highest claim to fame (according to Henri) is to be married to Henri’s daughter and to be the father of two of Henri’s grandchildren. He lives in San Diego, California where he is a partner at Charmasson, Buchaca & Leach, LLP, an IP law firm.