Greetings and best wishes for everyone’s good health and safety during this coronavirus pandemic. We are currently under a lockdown order until April 30.
Located in the Federal Documents Section on the 2nd floor of the Hawaii State Library at 478 South King Street, Honolulu, HI 96813, Honolulu Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) has been serving the Hawaii and Pacific Region since December 18, 1989.
Emily Dovermann is the current PTRC representative. Besides her, our PTRC staff includes two other librarians, Ashley Kajioka and Mark Orimoto, who came on board in October 2018 and in May 2019, respectively, and a library assistant, Emelinda Casco, who is principally devoted to passport services.
Our PTRC librarians are trained in trademark search tools and strategies, and are happy to provide consultation via email, phone and walk-in.
Throughout 2019, we provided over 50 one-on-one training sessions on how to conduct self-directed patent and trademark searches.
We also hosted various intellectual property seminars to bring awareness to the importance of intellectual property rights, including “IP Strategy is a Business Strategy” with John Cabeca, West Coast Regional USPTO Director brought back by popular demand on February 9, 2019.
“Trademark Basics: What Every Small Business Should Know Now, Not Later” presented by Jason Lott, USPTO Attorney Advisor for Trademark Educational Outreach, July 11, 2019.
“Basics of Plant Patents” presented by Tracey L. Ohta, an associate at Watanabe Ing LLP, and Seth M. Reiss, a registered patent attorney, in celebration Hawaii’s Arbor Day.
The Home Depot gave us a generous donation of three patented plants, which were given away to lucky winners at the plant patent basics seminar on November 2, 2019.
We also set up a few displays including “Hawaii the Beautiful: Plant Patents of Hawaii,” which spotlighted Hawaii’s plant patents, and Patent to Product,’ that featured patented technologies and designs used in commercial products.
In addition to being a PTRC, the Hawaii State Library Federal Documents Section has also been a selective Federal Depository Library since May 31, 1929 and a walk-in passport acceptance facility for U.S. passports since July 15, 2003.