Four ways to own an idea
Every product, brand and creative work can carry more than one of these at once. The book shows you how to use all four.
Patents
Inventions: machines, processes, compositions and new uses.
- Typical term
- 20 years from filing
Trademarks
Names, logos and other signs that tell buyers who stands behind a product.
- Typical term
- As long as it’s used and renewed
Copyright
Original expression: writing, music, art, film and software code.
- Typical term
- Author’s life plus 70 years
Trade secrets
Formulas, methods and data that are valuable because they stay confidential.
- Typical term
- As long as it stays secret
Where to start
Tell us who you are. We’ll mark the chapters to read first.
From Chapter 1: What intellectual property is, and why it matters
Most founders learn what their intellectual property was worth on the day someone else claims it. The brand they built for three years turns out to belong to a company that filed first. The engineer who left last spring takes the process everyone assumed was “ours.”
None of this is bad luck. It is the predictable cost of treating ideas as if they protect themselves.
Sample text. [TODO: replace with Chapter 1 author’s final text.]
Read Chapter 1 firstContents
Sixteen chapters in six parts. Open any chapter for its scope and the practitioner writing it.
Foundations
1What intellectual property is, and why it mattersThe four pillars and how they fit togetherOn your reading path
Patents, trademarks, copyright and trade secrets protect different things, last for different terms and are won and lost in different ways. This chapter maps the territory and shows how a single product can carry all four at once.
Covers
- The constitutional and statutory sources of US IP law
- Choosing the right protection for each asset
- Registration versus rights that arise automatically
- Where IP strategy fits in a business plan
Written by
Senior IP partner or practice-group chair
Broad, cross-disciplinary IP practice advising companies on overall IP strategy. Request this seat
Patents
2What can be patentedEligibility, novelty, nonobviousness and disclosureOn your reading path
A patent is a bargain: full public disclosure in exchange for a limited right to exclude. This chapter explains what qualifies, why software and diagnostics face eligibility challenges after Alice and Mayo, and how prior art is judged.
Covers
- Patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101
- Novelty and the America Invents Act first-inventor-to-file system
- Obviousness after KSR
- Written description and enablement
Written by
Registered patent attorney
Deep prosecution and opinion practice across technology areas. Request this seat
3Building a patent portfolioProsecution strategy, timing and costOn your reading path
Most patent value is created or lost before a patent ever issues. This chapter covers filing strategy from provisional application through allowance, and how to build a portfolio that supports financing and licensing.
Covers
- Provisional versus non-provisional filings
- Claim drafting that survives challenge
- Continuations and portfolio design
- Budgeting prosecution across jurisdictions
Written by
Patent prosecution partner
Leads portfolio strategy for venture-backed and emerging companies. Request this seat
4Patent litigation and PTAB proceedingsEnforcing and challenging patentsOn your reading path
Patent disputes now run on two tracks: federal district court and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. This chapter walks through infringement, invalidity, damages and how the two forums interact.
Covers
- Infringement, claim construction and Markman hearings
- Inter partes review and post-grant review
- Damages, reasonable royalties and injunctions
- Appeals to the Federal Circuit
Brands
5Choosing and registering a trademarkSelection, clearance and federal registrationOn your reading path
The strongest brands start with a name that can actually be protected. This chapter explains the distinctiveness spectrum, clearance searching and how to take a mark through USPTO registration.
Covers
- Generic, descriptive, suggestive, arbitrary and fanciful marks
- Clearance searches and risk opinions
- Use-based and intent-to-use applications
- Office actions, oppositions and maintenance
Written by
Trademark prosecution counsel
Manages large domestic and international trademark portfolios. Request this seat
6Enforcing a brandInfringement, dilution, counterfeits and domain namesOn your reading path
A registration is only as good as its enforcement. This chapter covers likelihood of confusion, dilution of famous marks, counterfeiting, online marketplaces and domain-name disputes, including the Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products.
Covers
- Likelihood of confusion factors
- Dilution by blurring and tarnishment
- Counterfeits, customs recordation and marketplace takedowns
- UDRP domain-name proceedings
Creative works and confidential information
7Copyright fundamentalsAuthorship, ownership and registrationOn your reading path
Copyright attaches the moment original expression is fixed, but ownership and enforceability turn on details. This chapter covers what copyright protects, who owns it, works made for hire and why registration still matters.
Covers
- Originality and the idea–expression line
- Works made for hire and assignments
- Registration, statutory damages and attorney's fees
- Termination rights
Written by
Copyright counsel
Advises authors, studios, publishers and software companies. Request this seat
8Fair use and copyright litigationWhere the lines are drawnOn your reading path
Fair use is the most argued and least predictable doctrine in copyright. This chapter explains the four factors, how Warhol v. Goldsmith (2023) reshaped transformative use, and what a copyright lawsuit actually involves.
Covers
- The four fair-use factors
- Transformative use after Warhol
- DMCA safe harbors and takedowns
- Remedies and litigation strategy
Written by
Copyright litigator
Trial and appellate experience in fair-use and infringement cases. Request this seat
9Trade secretsProtecting what you never discloseOn your reading path
Some of the most valuable IP is never filed anywhere. This chapter explains what qualifies as a trade secret, the reasonable measures required to keep that status, and remedies under the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016.
Covers
- Defining and documenting trade secrets
- Reasonable secrecy measures
- Employee mobility, NDAs and restrictive covenants
- DTSA remedies, including ex parte seizure
Written by
Trade secret litigator
Handles misappropriation and employee-mobility disputes. Request this seat
Industries and frontiers
10Life sciencesDrugs, biologics, devices and diagnosticsOn your reading path
Pharmaceutical and biotech IP runs on its own statutes and timelines. This chapter covers Hatch-Waxman, the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, patent term extensions and regulatory exclusivities.
Covers
- Orange Book listings and Paragraph IV challenges
- BPCIA biosimilar pathways
- Patent term extension and regulatory exclusivity
- Diagnostics and eligibility risk
Written by
Life sciences IP partner
Pharmaceutical or biotech patent litigation and counseling. Request this seat
11Software and open sourceCode, licenses and platformsOn your reading path
Software is protected by a patchwork of copyright, patents and trade secrets, and almost every product ships with open-source components. This chapter explains how to protect code and manage license obligations.
Covers
- Protecting software under each regime
- Permissive versus copyleft licenses
- Open-source compliance programs
- SaaS terms and API licensing
Written by
Technology transactions counsel
Software licensing and open-source compliance practice. Request this seat
12Artificial intelligence and IPInventorship, authorship and training dataOn your reading path
AI is testing every assumption IP law makes about human creators. This chapter covers the courts' insistence on human inventors and authors, the open questions around training data, and practical steps for companies building or using AI.
Covers
- Human inventorship after Thaler v. Vidal
- Human authorship and AI-assisted works
- Training-data litigation and licensing [VERIFY: status at publication]
- Contracting for AI inputs and outputs
Written by
AI and emerging technology counsel
Advises on AI development, deployment and related disputes. Request this seat
13Entertainment, media and publicity rightsFilm, music, games and personal likenessOn your reading path
Entertainment IP is layered: underlying rights, chain of title, guild agreements and the right of publicity. This chapter explains how rights are acquired, cleared and exploited across media.
Covers
- Chain of title and rights clearance
- Music licensing and sync rights
- Right of publicity and digital replicas
- Merchandising and brand extensions
The business of IP
14Licensing and technology transferTurning rights into revenueOn your reading path
A patent or brand earns money through licenses. This chapter covers license structures, royalty models and university technology transfer under the Bayh-Dole Act.
Covers
- Exclusive, non-exclusive and field-of-use licenses
- Royalty structures and audit rights
- University licensing and Bayh-Dole
- Cross-licenses and patent pools
Written by
IP transactions partner
Negotiates licensing and collaboration agreements. Request this seat
15IP valuation, diligence and dealsIP in venture, M&A and financeOn your reading path
Investors and acquirers pay for IP they can verify. This chapter explains how IP is valued, what diligence uncovers, and how IP is represented, warranted and financed in transactions.
Covers
- Cost, market and income valuation methods
- Freedom-to-operate and chain-of-title diligence
- Representations, warranties and indemnities
- IP-backed lending and royalty monetization
Written by
IP transactional counsel
Leads IP diligence for venture financings and acquisitions. Request this seat
16International IPProtecting rights across bordersOn your reading path
IP rights are territorial. This chapter explains how to secure protection abroad efficiently and what changes in the largest markets outside the United States.
Covers
- The PCT for patents and the Madrid Protocol for trademarks
- The European Unified Patent Court
- IP enforcement in China
- Customs and border measures
Test your instincts
Four questions most people get wrong. Each answer points to the chapter that explains it.
Can a single color be registered as a trademark?
Does copyright protect your idea for a movie?
Can an AI system be named as the inventor on a US patent?
Can a trade secret last forever?
One chapter, one specialist
No single lawyer is the best patent litigator, trademark prosecutor and copyright counsel at once. This book is staffed the way serious IP work is: each subject goes to the person who does it every day.
Author seats are by invitation. Practicing IP lawyers can request an open seat, or nominate a colleague, using the form below.
- Active practiceCurrently handling matters in the chapter’s subject.
- Depth over breadthRecognized for this specific area, not IP in general.
- Plain writingExplains the law to a founder without losing a lawyer’s precision.
- Personal capacityAuthors write for themselves, not their firms or clients.
Get early access
Readers get chapters as they're released. Lawyers can request an author seat.