Reviews for Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War

The average rating for Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-03-26 00:00:00 Kim Cook I thought this book would be perfect for me. It was listed as a real-life legal drama in the courtroom and the Patent Office between a solo inventor against a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and huge American corporations. And, as I got into it, I appreciated that it was written as a PBS American Experience special would be narrated. By the end, though, I was less impressed. I have an engineering degree and am a patent attorney. I live patent law. This, I thought, oversimplified the legal aspects for someone who understands patent law, and likely would go right over the head of someone who doesn't. Same with the physics. Too simple for someone who understands basic quantum mechanics, but way too complex for someone who doesn't. I realize that sounds elitist, but I'm concerned recommending this book without such a foundation. If you take out the science and the law, 20% of the book is gone. I'll give an A for effort that the author tried to distill complex science and one of the most convoluted forms of American law down for the reader. I'm not sure I could do better. In fact, I'm not sure I always do better when dealing with clients. But some red flag should have gone up editing this book that, "Oh crap, this complexity could be a problem." And speaking of editing, the writing could be better. I hate picking on this book more, but, for example, the same two paragraphs are copied onto both page 196 and 197. It should have been one or the other. Overall, I was underwhelmed that such an interesting story got mired in the background material. My hopes were probably too high (so keep that in mind with my review), but I'd read something else. Unfortunately, if you're looking for a patent law courtroom drama, I have no idea what that something would be.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-07-24 00:00:00 Frank Schuncke This is a really interesting story about the man who invented the laser, and the crazy legal battles he went through to get his patents validated and licensed and to overcome condescension from the scientific community (how could someone without a PhD invent anything useful?) and bullying by large corporate entities. It's a tragedy of our legal system that it costs so much, personally, professionally and financially, for an individual inventor to promote their work and get the benefits due to them. But it's also a testament to this man and others like him who can overcome those obstacles and come out victorious (and sane). I would have given it another star but it is a bit of work to get through it - this is a dense, complicated, thirty-year story involving politics, patent law, and technology; reading even a well-done summary of that is an undertaking. Easier than reading a patent or a scientific paper, perhaps, but not a light read (no pun intended).