For anyone who wants to learn more about the nature of IP: Patents, Trade Secrets, Trademarks, Copyrights, Licensing, I recommend this book: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517960.

I read it about 6 months ago, it will give you some clarity of thought about these matters. And apart from the odd gratuitous computer metaphor it is quite minimal -- you could probably use it as a reference if necessary.

This book has 2 chapters on patents: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517960

I read the first half of the book and found it enlightening.

Intellectual Property and Open Source. It is a must-read for anyone starting a business or working on an open source project.

http://www.amazon.com/Intellectual-Property-Open-Source-Prot...

http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517960/