''Inventions and Their Management'' is a
science book
A science book is a work of nonfiction, usually written by a scientist, researcher, or professor like Stephen Hawking (''A Brief History of Time''), or sometimes by a non-scientist such as Bill Bryson ('' A Short History of Nearly Everything''). ...
by
Alf K. Berle and
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...
.
It was based on ''A Course on Inventing and Patenting'' by Howard Wilcox and Alf K. Berle, a series of nine papers presented by
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
in cooperation with Inventors Foundation, Inc., issued from 1933-1934.
The Berle/de Camp version was published by the
International Textbook Company
The International Textbook Company (I.T.C.) was founded in 1895 by publisher Thomas J. Foster in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I.T.C. published instructional papers, booklets, and textbooks for the International Correspondence Schools, a subsidiary d ...
in July 1937. It was reprinted, revised, in September 1940. A second edition was issued by the same publisher in April 1947 and was reprinted, revised, in January 1948, with a third printing in June 1948
and a fourth in June 1950. A third edition was issued by the same publisher in November 1951 and was reprinted, revised, in 1954. An additional printing was issued by Laurel Publishing in 1957. The work was revised and reissued under the new title ''Inventions, Patents, and Their Management'' by
Van Nostrand in 1959. It was reprinted by Litton Educational publishers in 1968. The work has been translated into
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
.
First edition
The book contains a comprehensive study of
invention
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an i ...
as it relates to
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s and
patent law
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
,
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
s, and
copyright in the United States
The copyright law of the United States grants monopoly protection for "original works of authorship". With the stated purpose to promote art and culture, copyright law assigns a set of exclusive rights to authors: to make and sell copies of thei ...
, with extensive exploration and citation of relevant court cases. It "aims to present a coordinated treatment of the problems confronting inventors and business men in developing ideas into industrial property of value."
The stated intention is "to guide inventors in every aspect of their work, and to help them over the difficulties other inventors have met. It also teaches the language of invention, which is used by those attorneys, engineers, and executives who work extensively in this field, and, by giving a grasp of the legal, technical, and commercial terms having to do with invention, enables an inventor to understand these people and to make himself understood by them."
"The cases that are narrated are taken from the actual experience of inventors, and of business men and attorneys who have dealt with inventions. They are selected to help clear up important points, and also to bring out the fact that every invention development or case differs from all others, and requires intelligent individual handling.
Second edition
The stated object of the second edition "is to present in a single volume the principles and practices governing the technical, legal, and business procedures of invention, and thus to guide the many men and women who undertake to raise our standards of living by creative thought."
According to the preface, "
e principal changes have been a discussion of the
Lanham Act
The Lanham (Trademark) Act (, codified at et seq. () is the primary federal trademark statute of law in the United States. The Act prohibits a number of activities, including trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising.
...
and the important influence it will have on U. S. trade-mark law when it goes into effect in 1947, and a new chapter on trends in industrial research and invention."
Contents
From the third impression of the second edition.
* Preface.
* Chapter 1. History and Theory of Protection of Ideas; The Profession of Inventing; Forgie Jack Case.
* Chapter 2. Invention Procedure and Records; Piccoli Light-Switch Case.
* Chapter 3. What a Patent Grants; Jurisdiction of the Courts; Berliner Phonograph Case.
* Chapter 4. The United States Patent Office.
* Chapter 5. Sample Patents.
* Chapter 6. The Patent Laws; Limitations of Patents.
* Chapter 7. Patentable and Unpatentable Invention; Parker Turbine Case; Slawson Fare Box Case; Luks Dairy Apparatus Case; Reckendorfer Pencil Case; Morton Anesthetics Case.
* Chapter 8. Novelty; Claude Sea-Power Case.
* Chapter 9. Utility.
* Chapter 10. Public Use and Sale; Creager Roller Case.
* Chapter 11. Abandonment; Edison Lamp Case.
* Chapter 12. The Inventive Process; Calthorp Streamlined Train Case; Roters Heater Case.
* Chapter 13. Selection of a Patent Attorney; Segal Lock Case.
* Chapter 14. Analyzing, Classifying, and Bounding Inventions; Exeter Calculator Case.
* Chapter 15. Patent Searches; Clark Navigator Case.
* Chapter 16. Reading of Patents; Elsenheimer Punch Case; Wilkins Welder Case.
* Chapter 17. Study of the Market; Rainer Plating-Machine Case.
* Chapter 18. Preparation of Patent Applications; Haskin Rack Case.
* Chapter 19. Patent Drafting.
* Chapter 20. Prosecution of Patent Applications.
* Chapter 21. Study of the Product; Kendrick Pipe Case.
* Chapter 22. How Income from a Patent is Divided.
* Chapter 23. Employer-Employee Rights and Relations; Lowell Radio Case.
* Chapter 24. Promoters and Sales Agents.
* Chapter 25. Methods of Exploiting Inventions; Practicing the Invention.
* Chapter 26. Evaluating a Patent; Simon Electrotyping Case.
* Chapter 27. Finding a Buyer for a Patent.
* Chapter 28. The Sale of a Patent; Morehouse Toy Case.
* Chapter 29. Royalty Licenses; Holtzoff Disk Wheel Case.
* Chapter 30. Miscellaneous Methods of Exploiting Inventions; McCarthy Recordak Case; Ford Automobile Case.
* Chapter 31. Infringement; Selden Automobile Case.
* Chapter 32. Trade-Marks; Gilmore Trade-Mark Case.
* Chapter 33. Copyrights; Disney Cartoon Case.
* Chapter 34. Prints and Labels; Hodell Tire-Chain Case.
* Chapter 35. Accounting and Taxes in Relation to Patents.
* Chapter 36. The Antitrust Laws v. The Patent Laws; Johnson Paper Case.
* Chapter 37. Special Classes of Patents; Huron Meter Case.
* Chapter 38. Foreign Patents.
* Chapter 39. Patent and Trade-Mark Reform.
* Chapter 40. Invention and Research in Industry.
* Appendix.
* Glossary.
* Index and List of Cases.
Significance in the career of de Camp
''Inventions and Their Management'' was L. Sprague de Camp's first book; he went on to become a prominent
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
and
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
writer, as well as authoring a large number of additional non-fiction works.
Notes
{{L. Sprague de Camp
1937 non-fiction books
Technology books
Books by L. Sprague de Camp
Works about patent law