Stephen Nipper, a patent attorney, offers this concise encapsulation of his Invent Blog (www.inventblog.com): "Covering news and information relevant to independent inventors, small businesses, interesting inventions, patents, trademarks, copyrights, and intellectual property law in general." The blog is especially strong on patent news.
For a blessedly simple tool in patent research, try Google's patent search engine (www.google.com/patents). Google lets you search by term (e.g., "dog leash") and then pulls up the list of relevant patents, along with a snippet from the patent. Click through to an individual patent and you'll see an abstract, claims, key filing info, citations, and visuals--all in the space of 1-3 pages. Just as with a regular Google search, you can perform more advanced patent searches that include multiple parameters. And it's all blessedly fast.
Freepatentsonline.com is a speedy, powerful patent search engine. You do have to master their rules. But once you know how they operate, you can play with features such as search term weighting (e.g., "cat" is three times more important than "dog") and proximity searching (e.g., "cat" and "dog" are found within 5 words of each other). Images are available as a TIFF or PDF, though you do have to create a free account to access them.
 The United States Patent and Trademark Office website (www.uspto.gov) is a powerful tool for active inventors. It allows users to search for existing patents and trademarks, while offering valuable information about patents, trademarks, servicemarks, and copyrights. It also provides helpful answers to inventors' basic questions.
 The IP Mall (http://ipmall.info/) offers information and links to hundreds of national and international IP resources (patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, licensing, technology transfer, etc.). A creation of the Franklin Pierce Law Center, this rich site even lets you search the Law Center library catalog.
 IP Frontline is a web newsletter of intellectual property and technology and features announcements, trend overviews, and advice. While the site is primarily intended for IP professionals, it provides helpful items for independent inventors. Examples of features: Why You Need a Patent Illustrator, Top Ten Tips of IT Licensing, and Industry Patent Trend surveys. Check it out at IpFrontline.com.
 Before you spend another dime on a patent, you might want to read Millions from the Mind: How to Turn Your Invention--or Someone Else's--into a Fortune. Author Alan Tripp, a patent attorney, suggests when and why a patent is a good idea. He also explains what makes a patent strong and how it can be used to add value and a competitive edge. In addition, Tripp explores the other tools of intellectual property defense such as trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. He even reviews monetizing routes, focusing on licensing and venture backing. Be sure to get the second edition, which has been updated.
Check out http://www.delphion.com/gallery to see some obscure/bizarre patents--or nominate your own favorite. Delphion also offers a collection of historic patents. Delphion Research is an Internet-based service for researching and analyzing patents and intellectual property.
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