Cincinnati, OH

The Cincinnati Patent & Trademark Resource Center is located in the Information & Reference department of the Main Branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County (PLCH). The Main Library takes up two city blocks, and is consistently one of the busiest urban branches in the nation. Linda Kocis oversees the collection, teaches classes about Intellectual Property, and answers most of the public’s questions about patents, trademarks, and copyright. PLCH has been a member of the PTRC since the program started, so we are lucky to have bound patents going back to the late 1840s. We even have British patents from 1640-1915.

As part of the “Power Up! Read!” Summer Reading program, Linda Kocis and John Schlipp presented the “Superhero Matinee” program to over 200 people at eleven different branches in the Cincinnati Public library system. The program used superheroes to illustrate and explain patents, trademarks, and copyright to youth aged five to twelve and their parents. This was a great way to introduce a younger audience to the idea of intellectual property.

Linda was pleased to celebrate the Grand Opening of the PTRC at Northern Kentucky University’s Steely Library in December with a visit from Neil Massong and Tom Turner.

Linda Kocis and John Schlipp appeared live on local radio station WVXU’s Cincinnati Edition with host Mark Heyne (http://wvxu.org/post/patents-and-trademarks-digital-age). They had an informative chat about intellectual property and promoted their upcoming programs.