How to Protect Your Intellectual Property RightsCreated as a pressure release for patent office overload, the controversial America Invents Act may give big business the edge in securing patents. Here's a guide to protecting your intellectual property rights in the post-act age.

No entrepreneur wants to be the next Robert Kearns, the stubborn, hard-working inventor Greg Kinnear played in the 2008 filmFlash of Genius.Kearns unwisely--or, perhaps, just unluckily--lost control of his revolutionary idea, the intermittent windshield wiper.

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs may soon be facing Kearns' fate.