Understanding patents
"A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Generally, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees." There are three types: utility, design, and plant. Read more on the US PTO website.
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Places to search:
Need more help? Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is a Patent and Trademark Resource Center, which means they have special searching expertise and access to the databases PubWEST and PubEAST. Find more info or make an appointment here.
Selected books from the catalog
Patent Searching Made Easy by 
Patent Valuation by 
Patents Demystified by For tinkers, entrepreneurs, investors and any business with products or processes that can be patented, Patents Demystified provides an easy-to-understand insider guide to patents, patent law, and the patent application process. Based on the author s first-hand experience with both successful and failed companies of all sizes, readers learn the secrets of maximizing patent protection on any budget, with strategies that can be tailored to companies with any business plan or product. Instead of being intimidated and confused by patents, readers will discover how to proactively work with a patent attorney to craft a customized patent strategy, thereby taking the mystery out of what can be an arduous and complicated process."
First to File by 
Patents for Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology by 
Who Owns You? Science, Innovation, and the Gene Patent Wars by 
Patent Trolls by 
This work by Rebekah Miller is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license; CC BY-NC 4.0
