I have been reading the book “Fundamentals of Patenting and Licensing for Scientists and Engineers“, World Scientific Publishing Co., 2009; Matthew Ma is the author. I have read the first 7 chapters to date, so I will focus most of my comments on this portion, roughly the first half of the book. These initial sections of the text are concerned with “pre-filing” issues like the basics of patents, innovation (or idea) harvesting, and essentials in patent filing. This book is focused upon educating scientists and engineers without much experience in the patent system and succeeds in making this introduction. It offers practical advice that will be appreciated by  this community. This is not a book for patent attorneys; there are many other texts that fulfill this need. I recommend the book as one of the few that offers the kind of practical advice that is often only gained through some years of experience.