Intellectual Property

Introductory IP Law Research Tools

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (open access)
  The USPTO website offers a wealth of IP law information, including:

  • Laws, regulations, proposed legislation, and other legislative materials;
  • A chart comparing the different IP types;
  • IP basics FAQs;
  • Basics of copyright, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets;
  • Electronic search tools for accessing public IP materials; and
  • Additional research guidance for legal researchers, including information on Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) resources.
    • Note: Temple University is not a PTRC.  If access to the PubEast and/or PubWest databases is needed, the Philadelphia Free Library is the only PTRC in eastern Pennsylvania.

• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (public access)
  The WIPO website provides materials and information on domestic, international, and global IP laws and policies.

• Introduction to IP Research Tools & Strategies (open access, via SlideShare)
  Jon R. Cavicchi, of the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, created this presentation, which provides introductory information on IP law, along with research guidance for law students.  This is a good place to become familiar with the different IP law fields and discover available resources.  Cavicchi's other IP presentations, which provide resources for specific topics (such as IP crimes and international patent searching), are available here.

General Summaries and Study Guides

• The Oxford Handbook of Intellectual Property Law, eds. Rochelle Dreyfuss & Justine Pila (Temple Law access)
  Published in 2018, this books strives to be "an accessible overview of one of the most rich, complex, and important fields of law today, including its social and normative foundations, its emergence and development in different jurisdictions and regions, its substantive rules and principles, and its political economy."

• Intellectual Property: Examples and Explanations, by Stephen M. McJohn (Temple Law access in print and via Aspen Learning Library)
  This study aid provides a short summary of the four types of IP protections, as well as more in-depth chapters on each particular area.

• Intellectual Property: Patents, Trademarks, and Copyright in a Nutshell, by Arthur R. Miller & Michael H. Davis (Temple Law access in print and via West Academic Study Aids)
  This study aid provides an extensive analysis of the different types of IP protections and compares and contrasts them.