David Pressman

I wrote Patent It Yourself because, some years ago, I saw many good how-to legal books on divorce, forming a corporation, etc. but none on getting a patent. Like other Nolo authors, I felt that law should not be a mystery to laypersons and that most people should be given the tools and instructions to do most legal tasks themselves if they want or can't afford a lawyer. So I wrote Patent It Yourself to share my knowledge, dispel the mystery of patents, and provide a good guide for inventors. A member of the California and Patent and Trademark Office bars, I have had over 45 years' experience in the patent profession, as a patent examiner for the U.S. Patent Office, a patent attorney for Philco-Ford Corp., Elco Corp., and Varian Associates, as a columnist for EDN Magazine and Entrepreneur.com, and as an instructor in intellectual property at San Francisco State University. In the World Book Encyclopedia I wrote the Patent, Trademark and Copyright entries. While not a successful inventor, I have two patents issued. I spend most of my time writing, but I also dabble in electronics, programming, inventing, an playing the trumpet. While I practice as a patent lawyer in San Francisco, I'm originally from Philadelphia. My undergraduate major was Electrical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University and I went to law school at the University of Pennsylvania and George Washington University, where I was on the Law Review and received a Juris Doctor degree. An afficionado of words and their meaning and effects, I am a student of general semantics, but I also am very interested in health and vegetarianism. My mother, Mildred Phillips, was also a writer, having composed lyrics for numerous published songs, including Bill Haley's "Mambo Rock."