The Georgia Tech Library became a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC), then Patent Depository Library (PDL), in 1946. Lisha Li is the current PTRC Representative, and she has been serving in this capacity since 2010.
In 2019, the PTRC Representative continued to offer the monthly patent class. Over 200 people attended these on-site classes. To meet the demands of online and distance learning students, as well as inventors and entrepreneurs in remote areas, she initiated a virtual patent class on-demand program using Blue Jeans and has conducted over a dozen such sessions. The PTRC representative continued providing consultation and training to over 300 individuals on patents and trademarks, including inventors, entrepreneurs and artists from the public, undergraduate students in capstone design classes, participants in invention competitions, such as CREATE-X, and InventurePrize, faculty and graduate students from VentureLab, and patent researchers from business, economics, and public policy.
To engage in IP education on campus, the patent librarian collaborated with teaching faculty in engineering schools, business programs, and special programs on campus. For instance, the patent librarian was invited to the Inventing the Future educational program to talk about patents for undergraduate students. In Spring 2020, a teaching faculty from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering invited the patent librarian to give a patent lecture for his graduate and undergraduate students. In Fall 2019, a law professor invited the patent librarian to her class in the Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results (Ti:GER) Program regarding patent search. In Spring 2020, the patent librarian and the entrepreneurship librarian co-taught a credit course on Introduction to Intellectual Property.
Collaborating with the USPTO, Georgia Tech PTRC hosted the USPTO’s China IP Roadshow on campus in July 2019, attracting 70 participants, including patent attorneys, IP professionals, business owners, faculty and students. The PTRC also hosted the USPTO’s Recruitment Open House in Atlanta in February 2020. During this event, students and IP professional interacted with 5 supervisory patent examiners, and explored new opportunities. Several librarians and staff members volunteered at these events to make them successful.
To make full use of the InnovationQ Plus database, the patent librarian collaborated with IP.com and hosted one on-site and one virtual seminars regarding patent search and insight reports feature.
Additionally, the patent librarian worked as a judge at the Georgia Tech Capstone Design Expo in December 2010 to talk to students groups about their research and evaluate the results based on provided rubrics. She also made new connections with State of Georgia’s Innovation unit within Department of Economic Development, as well as local SCORE groups.
China IP Roadshow held at Scheller College Business auditorium, Georgia Tech in July 2019
USPTO Recruitment Open House, held at the Crosland Tower, Georgia Tech Library, February 2020