Charmasson - Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks For Dummies

Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by Henri Charmasson and John Buchaca

Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks For Dummies, 2nd Edition

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Copyright 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008930832

ISBN: 9780470507704

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Authors

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, hes 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 Henris daughter and to be the father of two of Henris grandchildren. He lives in San Diego, California where he is a partner at Charmasson, Buchaca & Leach, LLP, an IP law firm.

Dedication

To Marcia and Mari

Authors' Acknowledgments

Thanks to our editorial team and particularly to our project editor, Corbin Collins, who tactfully coached us into expressing many arcane legal principles in limpid prose.

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Introduction

Welcome to Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks For Dummies, 2nd Edition! Well try to make your visit as pleasant and enlightening as we can.

In our technology-driven world, intellectual property (IP) represents the major asset of most business enterprises. If the phrase intellectual property leaves you puzzled, this book will help you navigate its reefs and shoals and show you how to acquire and protect your share of this form of wealth.

Have you always thought you might be the next Thomas Edison or Danielle Steele? Has your company recently developed a bold new corporate logo or motivating trademark? Perhaps youre thinking of a new concept in software, one that can revolutionize the entire world of cybernetics. Or maybe youve just dreamed up the latest in latest things something to rival the iPod or camera phone.