What's a patent? Do you need a lawyer? What if someone steals your idea?
Get the FAQ's for yourself about these and other IP issues! Listen to nationally-recognized patent strategist John Ferrell as he answers the most frequently asked questions about patents and patent law. A straightforward introduction to the patent system, Basic FAQs is a fundamental resource for entrepreneurs and inventors wanting to learn more about protecting their intellectual property.
A Note from the Author:
"Hardly a day goes by without some mention of patents in the news. Some drug company discovers and patents a cure for a terrible disease, a start-up company’s patent issues and its stock soars, a small inventor receives a huge payment from a large company that failed to ask permission first. Patents truly seem to be everywhere in our society.
I have spent my entire legal career writing, arguing, licensing and thinking about patents. Patents are incredibly fascinating. Virtually everything we know about human technical achievement is written down somewhere in a patent document and carefully classified and stored in the Patent Office. When initially issued, and for a relatively short time afterwards, these patents can create powerful legal monopolies for the inventors who have contributed their ideas to this vast warehouse of knowledge.
These audio clips give a short exploration of patents especially designed to painlessly introduce the busy entrepreneur or overworked inventor to the subject of patents. I’ve recorded this, understanding that many creative people who most need to get some basic questions answered often don’t have the time to read a treatise on patent law. Many entrepreneurs simply want some basic questions answered so that they can make a reasonably informed decision about which step to take next, so I have tried to answer the questions that are, or should be, most frequently asked about patents."
John Ferrell is a founding partner of Carr & Ferrell LLP, one of Silicon Valley's foremost technology law firms, and specializes in patent and intellectual property law matters. He is the Chair of the firm's Intellectual Property Practice Group.
