Protecting Your #1 Asset : Creating Fortunes from Your Ideas : An Intellectual Property Handbook (Rich Dad's Advisors) [Paperback]

Michael A. Lechter (Author), Robert T. Kiyosaki (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001 | Series: Rich Dad's Advisors

Since failing to know the rules can lead to disaster, this book will familiarize readers with the basics they need for protecting their company's critically important rights involving copyright, patents, trademarks, & all other aspects of intellectual property. Protecting Your #1 Asset & Learn How to: * Turn your ideas into intellectual property assets * Identify & benefit from potential intellectual property assets that you may already own * Avoid inadvertently giving away your rights * Use your intellectual property to build barriers to your competition * Generate cash flow by licensing your intellectual properties to others * Use intellectual property to aid in raising capital, & as an alternative to raising capital.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael A. Lechter is an Attorney specialising in Intellectual Property.

From AudioFile

Your ideas can be turned into income streams if you manage them correctly and protect them from theft and unauthorized use. The author, an articulate attorney with a good speaking voice, provides an encyclopedic primer on navigating in the world of intellectual property. As in the other volumes in the Rich Dad's Advisors series, the author surveys the history and breadth of this topic before moving into a smoothly organized account of detailed information. Delivered with a speaking style that is as inviting as it is cautionary, the author's message is to pay attention to your intangible creations and do the hard work of protecting them, so you will profit from your work. T.W. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Business Plus (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446678317
• ISBN-13: 978-0446678315
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Law > English Law > Commercial

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best...somewhat incomplete...gives broad brush, March 4, 2002

By 

Lee Say Keng "KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURER/TECHNOLOGY... (Ho Chi Minh City/Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Protecting Your #1 Asset : Creating Fortunes from Your Ideas : An Intellectual Property Handbook (Rich Dad's Advisors) (Paperback)

Frankly speaking, I am quite disappointed with this book.

When I bought this book, I had the impression that it is about the protection of intellectual capital. Also, I was attracted to the book because of an introduction by Robert Kiyosaki, whose work I am very familiar.

Although the book gives a broad brush about intellectual property (IP) protection from many different perspectives, and offers some useful guidelines to help protect your intellectual interests, it is somewhat incomplete as far as the protection of ideas or intellectual capital is concerned.

It does not give any specific illustration and/or example on how to protect your intellectual capital from the standpoint of goodwill, reputation, expertise, (especially accumulated practical skills), data and know-how...more specifically, your ideas and/or "working methodologies" which are embodied in products and services.

Take an example from the book, on page 58, under Utility Patent Protection, the author talked about:

"Business method is patentable if:

- it produces a useful, concrete, and tangible result; and
- it is novel and not obvious;

but the book stops short of giving specific business cases or product examples to illustrate this key point. This is, to me, intellectual capital, and I want to know how to protect it!

As a matter of fact, the author talked about how he came to know Robert Kiyosaki...from the CashFlow game. Funny enough, the author did not even bother to give any detailed account on the IP protection scheme pertaining to the game. Nothing at all, period. I thought this would have been a very appropriate subject, because of the need for the protection of intellectual capital behind the development of the game - and the gameplay procedure - from pirates.

The book listed a lot of other IP stuff, which were not covered in the book, but the author directed the reader to his website. For example, the author introduced his IP self-audit checklist, among other things, which sounds interesting. When I checked his website, I realised I had to fork out US$129/- to buy a CD-ROM containing the stuff.

My overall personal impression of the book is that both Michael Lechter and Robert Kiyosaki are using each other to sell each other's products and services! (which are well-illustrated on many end pages of the book!) The poor reader is expected to fork out more effort and money...maybe that's why the Rich Dad series of products are so lucrative for the author.

On the whole, this book falls short of my personal expectations. I am very disappointed with the author and also, Robert Kiyosaki.

To be fair to the author, I feel that the book, even though it is incomplete from my personal viewpoint, still provides a broad-brush about IP, - especially on copyrights, patents,and trademarks, - from many different perspectives.

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keeping Sole Ownership of Your Valuable Ideas!, September 2, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Protecting Your #1 Asset : Creating Fortunes from Your Ideas : An Intellectual Property Handbook (Rich Dad's Advisors) (Paperback)

Protecting Your #1 Asset is one of the most helpful introductions to the legal side of intellectual property acquisition and management that I have seen. Few who are not intellectual property attorneys have this knowledge. As a result of ignorance, many well-meaning individuals make substantial mistakes that cost them substantial incomes. This book will "alert you to the pitfalls that can strip the rights from the unwary."

This book covers the primary ways to protect intellectual property, including trade secrets, utility and design patents, mask work protection, copyrights, trademarks, and trade dress. This is done in the context of maximizing your revenue and income by creating protected intellectual property and creating competitive barriers, while minimizing the risk of receiving and being harmed by third-party claims against you.

The book's set piece is Robert Kiyosaki's experience with inventing what he called a "shoe pocket" which was Velcro and nylon wallet that is now called a "surfer shoe." Mr. Kiyosaki did not protect his idea, and was soon put out of business by competitors who copied and outperformed him. The book then goes into a number of horror story examples of how simple mistakes can cost a person or a company its intellectual property. Some mistakes can be as simple as not properly dating invention notes, while others can involve "abandoning" the invention by not continuously working on it.

The book gives you a lot of guidelines of what you need to do to obtain and retain protection, and helps you understand the pros and cons (and availability of these protections).

As someone who studied intellectual property in law school, I found the book impressive. I intend to recommend it to those I know who are developing intellectual property but have limited knowledge of the field.

The book's main weakness is that it doesn't give you a sense of what the costs are related to these protections. If you have intellectual property worth a billion dollars and lots of cash now, that's not a problem. Go for the best protection! On the other hand, if you have something that you're not sure what the value is and not much cash, you may want to take the less expensive routes. Top intellectual property legal advice will usually cost hundreds of dollars an hour. A worldwide patent position can cost well into six figures in dollars. So if you need intellectual property counsel, get into those cost issues at the beginning of your relationship. If trade secret and copyright protections are enough, the advantage they have is that they are not very costly to obtain and maintain. In seeking out intellectual property help, do try to find an attorney who is experienced and has educational credentials in the field in which you are seeking protection for your work. A small percentage of the bar (less than 5 percent) is well qualified to work in these areas as Mr. Lechter implies. Within that small group, one person in 30 will probably be much better suited to your issues. Take the time to find that person.

After you finish reading and thinking about this book, I suggest that you also consider how you could build a business out of just creating intellectual property. That business model may be one of the most valuable in the decades ahead.

Seek ideal improvements daily!

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The First of Its Kind, June 28, 2001

By 

Dave Rogers (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Protecting Your #1 Asset : Creating Fortunes from Your Ideas : An Intellectual Property Handbook (Rich Dad's Advisors) (Paperback)

Intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets) is one of the most valuable assets of any business, whether it be a start-up or large multi-national. Business people, however, who are already overextended, usually don't have time to learn intellectual property basics or how to utilize intellectual property to maximize profits. Mike Lechter's book is the first to cut through the jargon and explain in plain English how to recognize and protect valuable intellectual property. The reader receives a solid, working knowledge of all aspects of intellectual property law complete with examples. A powerful business tool for corporate professionals and entrepreneurs.