The patent system added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius.
–Abraham Lincoln
Patent is one form of intellectual property which includes trademark, copyright, and trade secret protection as well. The patent literature is one of the most comprehensive sources of technical information and represents the most valuable technology discovered by corporations, universities, and independent inventors. Patents in the industrial R&D is as important as peer-review papers in academic research, maybe even more important to the companies to obtain sustainable competitive advantage, especially to the medical device company.
A good reference book for beginners in the industrial R&D area is Patent Fundamentals for Scientists and Engineers. Both of two authors have education backgroud in science and many years experience in the patent field either as a patent agent or a patent examiner. Certaintly, rich resource can be found in the The United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Recently, one important change of America Invents Act is adopting "first-investor-to-file" patent system instead of previous "first-to-invest" system. Finally, the US follows the rule used by all other countries.
