2013 PTRCA President’s Report

2012/13 was the first year the Association operated under its new name: the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Association. The name was chosen by members to reflect the name change of the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program to the Patent and Trademark Resource Centers Program. This also reflects the move away from simply collecting depository items and putting them on a shelf to a more interactive place where information can be found and utilized in many formats.

2012/13 was the first year the Association operated under its new name: the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Association. The name was chosen by members to reflect the name change of the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program to the Patent and Trademark Resource Centers Program. This also reflects the move away from simply collecting depository items and putting them on a shelf to a more interactive place where information can be found and utilized in many formats.

Thanks go to Secretary Martin Wallace for updating our logo to incorporate the new letters in our acronym.

Mande Putnam, our former PTDLP manager, retired from the USPTO in October 2012 after 23 years of service in different positions. At a retirement luncheon Treasurer Jim Miller read a letter from PTRCA acknowledging her years of leadership of the Program.

In May Dave Morrison submitted a thoughtful letter to then-Director David Kappos on behalf of the Association, encouraging the USPTO to recapture the first three million patents issued by the USPTO and make them searchable online. Dave received a reply stating they’d give it careful consideration.

It was a quiet year for the Association, but we continue to support each other and share information and our insights via PTRCA-L, ALLPTRCS and the PTDLP Commons.

 

Respectfully submitted,
Walt Johnson