Whether you're investigating patent, copyright or trademark law, get the most concise and comprehensive explanations of intellectual property in one volume!

Whether you're an Edison, Faulkner or Jobs, you need

Intellectual property law has rapidly produced its own language. But don't count on understanding it right off the bat -- the terms baffle lawyers and lay folk alike. Whether you're an inventor, designer, writer or programmer, you need to understand the language of intellectual property law to intelligently deal with such issues as:

who owns creative works or valuable information

how these owners can protect and enforce their ownership rights

how disputes between intellectual property owners can be resolved, and

how ownership rights can best be transferred to others.

With this essential guide, you will:

get clear overviews of relevant laws

understand the different kinds of protection offered by patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets -- and which apply to your work

get a plain-English definition of every term you're likely to come across, and

find the information you need, quickly and easily -- all entries are organized by topic and extensively cross-referenced.

This edition includes an expanded dictionary of borderline IP terms and reflects the many changes resulting from legislation and case law. It also includes a new Q&A section excerpted from the author's regularly updated "Dear Rich" blog.