Punctuation primer

When to use brackets:
1) When you want to insert your own words into a text in place of the author’s.
Original text: “The rules of the Patent and Trademark Office clearly prohibit releasing this information under 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552.”
Your changes: “The [PTO rules] clearly prohibit releasing this information under 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552 [the Freedom of Information Act].”

When to use brackets:
2) When you start the quote at a different place than the author did.
Original text: “Under United States law, an invention may not receive a United States patent if the invention was ‘patented’ anywhere in the world more than one year before the filing of an application for a United States patent.”
New start: “[A]n invention may not receive a United States patent if the invention was ‘patented’ anywhere in the world more than one year before the filing of an application for a United States patent.”

When to use brackets [STOP! BLOCK QUOTES!—see book Pt2-page 9]:
2) When you start the quote at a different place than the author did.
Original text: “Under United States law, an invention may not receive a United States patent if the invention was ‘patented’ anywhere in the world more than one year before the filing of an application for a United States patent. Therefore, inventions described in Russian patents or Soviet inventor’s certificates more than one year old are ineligible for United States patents.”
Original text: Under United States law, an invention may not receive a United States patent if the invention was ‘patented’ anywhere in the world more than one year before the filing of an application for a United States patent. Therefore, inventions described in Russian patents or Soviet inventor’s certificates more than one year old are ineligible for United States patents.

When to use brackets:
3) When there is a misspelling in the text.
“Therefore, inventions described in Russian patents or Soviet inventor’s [sic] certificates more than one year old are ineligible for the United States patents.”