Book Review: Patent Ease: How to Write Your Own Patent Application

 

This book is mostly useless. It does have a couple of good tips (like how to differentiate your invention from what already exists), but it is not anywhere near detailed enough to sit down and write your own quality patent. While the author does give some wording tips for the specifications and roughly describes how to do things like diagram the invention, the author only scratches the surface. And some of the advice in the book (like the "post office patent" idea which the author admittedly says is a long shot that the courts may not accept (they will not)) is not even worth considering. There is no in-depth discussion about how to write claims. The claims are the most important part of the patent and something patent bar study prep courses spend multiple sessions (2-3 hours) discussing. Nor does he go into enough detail about what can and cannot be patented, or how to do a sufficient prior-art search. Prior art searches are not something that you have to do before writing a patent, but it is a good idea to know what it is and how to do one so you can decide whether you want to look for prior art before you spend the time to write your own patent. 

It seems that this was originally an ebook which was then printed in hardcopy because he references a lot of blank forms (some of which are reprinted in the book) and his sample patent (parts of which are reprinted), but there is no information about how those purchasing the book can get access to them. On a more picky point, the font that they used when printing the book is horrible. The type is so small, that if you have poor eyesight at all, it will be difficult to read.

While I do think the book is mostly useless, I would not call it completely useless. The main issue with the book is that it is not nearly as detailed as what you would need to successfully write your own patent application. Certainly, patent agents and attorneys are very expensive and I would not begrudge anyone who does not want to spend the kind of money that it would take to have a professional write the application. That said, the process of applying for a patent is very detailed and mistakes (even minor ones) can lead to the application getting rejected outright or, even if the patent is granted, still make it very difficult, if not impossible, to enforce your rights. There is a lot that goes into the process and it has to be done right. 

If this book is paired with the much more detailed and substantive DIY book, Patent it Yourself, some of the information in this book, when used in conjunction with Patent it Yourself can be helpful. But, this book alone is not going to give you everything you need to know to write a quality patent (or anywhere near it). Nor does it give you enough information to make an informed decision about whether you actually want to attempt to write a patent application on your own or whether you want to seek out professional help, whether through a law firm or one of the pro-bono services inventors can use.