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Summary: Patent advice from a layman = bad advice
Review: "From Patent to Profit" by Bob DeMatteis stands out among all the books on the subject. Bob's book has literally become my guide from the patent stage to selling our product on the market. Bob is very knowledgeable. His own success with patents and product development helps him guide the beginner. He takes you step by step through the process in a very precise and understandable way. I am so pleased that I became involved with Bob's teachings early on in my journey to product development. I've purchased other books on the subject and 'From Patent to Profit" says it best, especially for beginners.
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Summary: Boring and hard to read..!!
Review: Do not buy this book.. The information was very repetetive and worthless. The main advice in this book was to get a group of manufacturing, marketing, and patenting "experts" that would guide you through the whole process of product development ..!! The whole book keeps referring to these "experts" numerous times in almost all the chapters. I also didn't like the side quotes found on each page. They were distracting and offered no real useful information.
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Summary: Patent advice from a layman = bad advice
Review: I am a patent attorney and was shocked after skimming this book. In my opinion, many aspects taught in this book - especially the patent-related aspects - are absolutely not in line with sound patent practice. I doubt that the example patent that is provided as a "go-by" would even satisfy the patent office's minimum technical requirements - especially the claims, which are just plain scary (for example, the dependent claims would surely be rejected for "improper antecedent basis", which the author seems to know nothing about). You would think that the author would have had a patent attorney (or at least a patent agent or somebody else who had formal training in patent law) review the book (and especially the example patent) for mistakes, but he apparently did not do this. Instead, he apparently "winged it" and produced an amaturish book and an example patent that would take a real patent practitioner about 2 seconds to invalidate or design around.One of the most shocking examples of plain old stupidity taught in this book is the suggestion that, to determine whether your idea would be patentable, you should ask a store manager if they have ever seen the idea before. What a great idea! Tell the people who sell the product about your idea BEFORE you patent it. Run from this book...and if you have read it...forget everything you read. Better to find a book written by an actual patent attorney or agent - like "Patent It Yourself" by David Pressman, or, for a more detailed treatment of patent strategies, try "Patent Strategies for Business" by Stephen Glazier.
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Summary: Makes a Difficult Subject Seem E-Z !
Review: I feel that this is one of the best books, if not the best, on how to invent. This book is written by a serious minded inventor who makes a difficult subject seem E-Z by presenting it in an engaging way. The book has extremely comprehensive information on idea protection, prototypes, manufacturing as well as marketing and selling your invention. He provides many anecdotes from his personal inventing experiences over many years, and gives excellent strategies and methodologies on approaching companies, how and when to have a non-disclosure signed, how much to divulge, etc. I highly recommend the audio tape series to complement and supplement the book. This way, the tapes can be listened to when driving to and from work, while the book can be read and studied in the evenings. These items together are a "must" investment. Dematteis also received rave reviews on his seminar presentations as featured speaker of the Invention Convention® "Masters of the Invention Process"™ seminar series.
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Summary: invaluable reference
Review: I had an idea for a product, but didn't know where to go from there. I borrowed this book from the library, and it not only answered all my immediate questions, I'm ordering it as a reference to use through the whole "patent to profit" process. Great book!
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Summary: Excellent companion book to Pressman's Patent It Yourself.
Review: I have found this book to be an invaluble asset as I have brought my idea through the patent process, and especially now as I am beginning to market it. From patent searching to explaining the nuts and bolts of the entire patent process I cannot say enough about how well it is written. As well, I have come to the conclusion that without reading this book I certainly would not have known how to REALLY go about getting my product to market! It is written in easy to understand language explaining the do's and don'ts of the entire process. I found the information given about how to detect and avoid the scam artist involved in the invention industry especially interesting. The companion "frompatenttoprofit.com" website was very useful in this regard. What I found most valuable about this read was how well the author details how to bring a product to market with a minimum of resources being spent. An acquaintence of mine so far has poured over $200,000 into his invention with no results. If he only would have read this book first, he would have known how to avoid such risk!
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Summary: Important book written by an inventor who has done it
Review: In general, I can recommend that inventors buy a copy of the book because too few books on inventing emphasize the marketing and licensing aspects of commercializing your invention. As crazy as the patenting process is, it pales in comparison to the craziness of trying to market a new product, especially in a field with established competitors. It makes no sense to spend $5000 to $15000 to obtain a patent, if at a minimum, you won't make the $5000 to $15000 back in profits, plus whatever sweat equity you put in. Thus the importance of a book written by an inventor who has done this successfully.
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Summary: This is the first book you should buy
Review: Since there seems to be some interesting, even irresponsible, comments being made, I thought I would set the record straight. First, I am Bob DeMatteis, the author of this book and I recommend you be careful when purchasing. Do not buy the 8-year old, outdated edition (blue cover). I am shocked amazon carries it. Instead buy the new 3rd edition (c) 2005, (ISBN 0-7570-0140-8) in the orange cover.
About the irresponsible comments. You must be careful of advice from patent attorneys or anyone making snap judgments thinking I winged it, or a patent cited in the book is easy to design around. They don't have a clue. The inventions in both editions are covered by more than one patent and both have made a lot of money. Those making irresponsible, unqualified assumptions are jumping to laughable conclusions and are not experts in inventing or marketing. The new 3rd edition shows you how to hire a trustworthy attorney who is truly interested in your success and not billing you for his hours.
Setting the record even straighter, all of my 20+ patents have been licensed before or during the patent pending process. All have made money. So, do you want advice from someone who hasn't a clue about profiting from an invention? Or, would you prefer advice from a successful inventor who's commercialized all of his? Besides, when purchasing From Patent to Profit, you can return it if you don't find it helpful. However, an attorney will still charge you if you decide you are suddenly unhappy with his services.
The 3rd edition is endorsed by leading experts in the field of inventing and patenting, including Don Kelly, former director of the U.S. Patent Office and Andy Gibbs, CEO of PatentCafe, who sits on the board of the Patent Advisory Counsel to the U.S. Patent Office. It is endorsed by dozens of respectable patent attorneys, successful inventors, marketers and government agencies like the SBA and SBDC. After you read it, I'm confident you'll endorse it too.
Last, be aware that 97% of all patents don't make the inventor any money. The 3rd edition of From Patent to Profit shows you how to do what I and many other successful inventors have done...that is, commercialize and profit from ALL of your inventions. Follow the advice of a patent attorney or a book written by one, like Patent it Yourself, and you will be assured of two things: 1) You're about to become a statistic in the 97% failure category, and; 2) You're going to spend a lot of money getting there!
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Summary: On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give it an 8. Great on inventing
Review: The book is very easy to read, and it is very interesting. The author weaves in the need for patents and other intellectual property protection very well into the invention process. This is far better coverage on the strategy of patents than I have ever read before. But for me the best part was the overall process recommended by the author. He shows us how to have marketing and manufacturing concerns guide the invention process from the beginning. He also presents a very detailed analysis of how to go about inventing a product using the problems and concerns of the customer as a basis for your product. This, again, was very well done. The author has invented, and now teaches inventing. This book serves as his seminar material. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. John Dunbar
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Summary: On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give it an 8. Great on inventing
Review: The book is very easy to read, and it is very interesting. The author weaves in the need for patents and other intellectual property protection very well into the invention process. This is far better coverage on the strategy of patents than I have ever read before. But for me the best part was the overall process recommended by the author. He shows us how to have marketing and manufacturing concerns guide the invention process from the beginning. He also presents a very detailed analysis of how to go about inventing a product using the problems and concerns of the customer as a basis for your product. This, again, was very well done. The author has invented, and now teaches inventing. This book serves as his seminar material. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. John Dunbar
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