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 28 years and have worked at WSL for 9 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.
Over the course of the year, the Wyoming PTRC was a remote host site for various training broadcast through the Rocky Mountain Regional Office in Denver. This included Intellectual Property Basics series and Trademark Tuesdays series. A photo is attached of a patron attending the first of the IP Basics series.
The Wyoming PTRC joined the Rocky Mountain Regional USPTO in attending the 2018 Wyoming Small Business Development Center GRO-Biz conference in Rock Springs, Wyoming, Feb 20-23.
Photo 2 is of the USPTO/PTRC booth at this event. Photo 3 is me with Garth Rademaker, Supervisory Patent Examiner, USPTO Rocky Mountain Regional Office visiting with Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi, a big supporter of small business and independent inventors.
