ABSTRACT
This book is concerned with the law relating to information in its widest sense, that is to say relating to the material which is handled by the information specialist, and naturally the law of copyright is of prime concern. However, in the wider world an equally important area of intellectual property is that of patents. (Patent should be pronounced with a short 'a' as in Pat, not pate.) Patents in general, and patent law, are relevant to the work of the information specialist, and indeed to very many people whose work involves using or handling business or scientific or technical information. A patent can be an extremely valuable piece of property and owners of patent rights fight hard to prevent anyone else from muscling in on those rights. But patents have a further value which is of great importance. Every country keeps records of patents applied for, and granted, and these records are a very important source of information for scientists, for inventors, and for companies whose business lies, directly or indirectly, in the development of new products, whether pharmaceutical drugs, machinery, household products, electronic inventions, or indeed virtually anything where scientific or technical innovation can turn a profit. Patent records can alert the scientist or inventor to the latest developments in their field, can confirm, or otherwise, that an invention really has not been thought of before, and for a business can show what competitors are doing, and point the way to further advances. In one of its guidance leaflets the Patent Office says If you don't access patent documentation, you are cutting yourself off from THE WORLD'S RICHEST STORE OF TECHNICAL INFORMATION'.
