The Dallas Public Library wants to welcome you to the downtown Dallas Public Library anytime you visit Dallas, Texas; you can find us on the 6th floor, currently known as the Government Information Center.
Starting my second year as the Dallas PTRC representative, many programs offered a variety to potential inventors. The ever popular Bob Wise continued his bi-monthly one-to-one question and answer sessions. Pro se inventors utilize this 20-minute session to query Bob about their invention or the patent/trademark process. Bob is also the current president of the Texas Inventors Association.
Another popular program was Music is Your Business. The Texas Music Office, Office of the Governor, Greg Abbott, sent a representative from Austin to discuss copyright and trademarks for musicians. A life coach taught these creatives how to monetize their craft with social media and included a brief introduction to licensing and copyright, finding creative outlets, and bypassing common mistakes.
Other workshops included Basics of Trademarks, Filling out the Patent Application, and How to Write Claims and the Description; inventors, each at different stages in their application or invention process, attended. Robert Franz drove from Oklahoma to present his program How to Value Your Invention: To Patent or Not to Patent.
A well-attended program was Coffee with the Inventors. Academic and corporate inventors*, as well as a micro-entity pro se inventor with her first-patent application, received rave reviews for their answers to questions from the audience. Meesha had just finished applying for her first design patent application.
*Note—Dr. Yang and Christopher McMillon each had a patent granted on the same day. Check out the patent numbers!
The most important event, however, was the opening of the newest satellite office, the Regional USPTO Dallas office. Located in the historic end of Dallas (across from Dealey Plaza), the office has recently hosted its first USPTO Texas Regional Inventor Conference, Patent Seminar and a Trademark Program. Many local inventors, business and academic inventors, and patent and trademark attorneys were present. While the new regional office may have more computers to search Pub East/West at one time, the Dallas PTRC offers patrons more convenient evening and weekend hours.
One very special display, A Rose by Any Other Name: The 1933 Plant Patent Act, was created by the newest member of our DPL web graphics team. The wall display is 3’x4’ and features both patented and non-patented roses plus a short history of the first plant patent—a rose.
Dallas Innovates recently went online to promote the innovation, technology and digital online community here in Dallas that “tells the story of creativity, commerce, and collaboration across the landscape of innovation in the region from enterprise to entrepreneurs, invention to education, and creative to social innovation.” A special feature promoting the Dallas Public Library and the PTRC located here was Beyond Books: Dallas Public Library Answers Inventors’ Questions.
