I am Karen Kitchens the State Publications Librarian at the Wyoming State Library (WSL), located in Cheyenne. I have a BA in Political Science from The University of Akron and a Master of Library Science from Texas Woman’s University. At WSL I am primarily responsible for the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Program (PTRC) and the Wyoming State Publications Repository Program collections, which are housed at the WSL. I have resided in Wyoming for 25 years and have worked at WSL for 6 ½ years. Prior to this, I worked as a Reference Librarian and Adult Programming Specialist at the Laramie County Library in Cheyenne. WSL has been a PTRC since 2001.
The Wyoming PTRC offered individual preliminary patent search training throughout the year. An increased number of in person contacts were a direct result of referrals from both the Wyoming Research Product Development Center and the Wyoming Small Business Development Center. However, the majority of Wyoming PTRC patrons continue to be limited to either phone or email training.
On October 3, 2015 the WSL PTRC presented at Senator Mike Enzi’s Annual Inventors and Entrepreneurs Conference. The conference was a one day event featuring a variety of speakers to help ensure attendees have the opportunity to expand their ideas, learn how to secure patents, and develop business plans and market their products. WSL PTRC spoke on the Steps to Successful Preliminary Patent Searching, using both the USPC and the CPC. Unique offerings at WSL PTRC, such as PubWest and PubEast were also discussed. There were nearly 50 attendees. As a result of this presentation, several inventors from around the state subsequently contacted WSL PTRC for further preliminary patent searching help.
Karen Kitchens
Intellectual Property/Documents Librarian
Wyoming State Library