Copyrights protect ways of expressing ideas. As the name suggests, the copyright holder has a right to determine who may copy his words. The right does not extend to who may discuss the ideas expressed by those words. For instance, Einstein may copyright his essay on the theory of relativity, but he may not prevent others from researching his theory or presenting it in their own words. In recent years, copyright has been extended to cover not only books and journal articles, but also pictures, films, music, computer programs, and design elements of products.
The Price of Truth by 
The Ethics of Information Technology and Business by 
Scientific authorship : credit and intellectual property in science by Librarian Charles Uth has put together an excellent guide on Intellectual Property, including information on searching for patents.
The Technology Transfer Office at IIT exists to answer many of your questions about intellectual property laws, procedures, and IIT policy regarding the intellectual property rights of IIT students, faculty and staff.
Use this search box to find books, e-books, DVDs and anything else kept inside the IIT Libraries.