Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Monday, December 5, 2022

Book Review: Patent It Yourself

 


The process to get a patent in the US is very long and very expensive if you use a patent attorney or a patent agent. And, the process of writing a patent is complicated and it really takes years of practice to get comfortable with it and good at it. But, for anyone who does want to try writing their own patent, this is probably the best guide out there. At least the best I have come across. I have seen others that are, frankly, not worth the paper they are written on, but this is head and shoulders in quality above those.

This is a comprehensive guide that explains the patenting process, breaks down the different parts of a patent, describes the various ways to write patent claims (which is the most important part of the patent), and actually has the text of a sample patent so you can see how one should be laid out. And, it explains some of the basics of patent law, which you will need to understand during the prosecution of the patent (the back-and-forth with the patent and trademark office that occurs after the patent is filed) that will be helpful after the patent is written. Ultimately, it goes through all of the basics that you will need to know when it comes to how to write the patent. It has some discussion about patent drawings, but that is not comprehensive. Nolo has a patent drawings guide that can be used as a supplement to this guide that will give you details about how to deal with patent drawings.

I used this guide as I was finishing my engineering degree to learn the basics of patent law before I took the more comprehensive patent bar prep course. This will not get you the skill equivalent to a patent agent or attorney with years of experience, but it will give you the understanding you need to either try to write your own patent or figure out that you want no part in trying to do it yourself. I would not blame anyone for making either decision, but even if you do decide you do not want to write one yourself, this will help you when working with a patent attorney or a patent agent because the better you understand the process, the better communication you will have and ultimately, the more money it will save you.

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