Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Broward County Library
Submitted by: Eileen Fischlschweiger

The Fort Lauderdale PTRC was designated as a Patent Depository Library (PDL) on November 1st, 1984.
Eileen has been the PTRC representative for 26 years and has been the patent and trademark librarian for 28 years. She has a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Chemistry and Physics, a Master of Arts in Journalism and Communications with a specialization in Broadcast Production and a second Master’s degree in Library Science. She also has a considerable amount of graduate level coursework in Education.
Creation Station Business (CSB) staff member Frank Pennetti assists customers with small business information and coordinates programming on topics of interest to small business entrepreneurs. He also works with customers on intellectual property related questions.
Fort Lauderdale PTRC. Using the PTRCA’s Guide for Best Practices for Patent and Trademark Resource Centers (PTRCs), Second Edition, January 2022, she tailored it to include specific local procedures and included contacts for various operations. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the original work. This local operations manual was completed on June 30, 2022.
On August 13, 2022, Eileen conducted an online training program titled “An Overview of Patent Public Search.” This presentation was an outreach to the Inventors Society of South Florida (ISSF). There were 15 attendees for this 2 hr. and 20 min. presentation, which was well received. The ISSF President emailed that one of the attendees was an author of multiple books on patents who is “a very well-known celebrity in the independent inventor community” and that several attendees “said that they really appreciated the whole program.” He added, “I learned quite a bit and I do believe I will have much better results now.”
Frank reported that the Creation Station Business’s biggest event washosting the Alliance of Entrepreneur Resource Organizations (AERO) South Florida Business Resource Expo on January 11, 2023. This Expo showcases the many free and low cost resources available to entrepreneurs and business owners in South Florida. AERO is a coalition of public agencies and community nonprofit organizations united to provide current and new businesses with resources to aid their success. This event was very well attended, 73 attendees. There were 16 exhibitor tables, including Broward SCORE and the Small Business Development Center & PTAC, FAU/SBA, which many attendees visited. Frank personally spoke with 43 attendees at the CSB exhibitor table.