Aloha, and welcome to the Hawaii State Library Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC). The Hawaii State Library has been a patent and trademark resource center since December 18, 1989. The PTRC is located within the Federal Document Section of the library.
This year has seen some changes in personnel. We bid farewell to Stewart Chun, head of the Federal Documents Section, who retired on June 30, 2016 after years of devoted service. Emily Dovermann has been on a temporary assignment as the acting head.
We also said farewell to Amelia Silva, our long-time library assistant who retired at the end of the year, and welcomed Pamela Ward, who accepted a temporary assignment to the position.
After years of dutiful service at the Federal Documents Section Arlen Nagamine, librarian, is making plans to retire soon.
The Federal Documents Section at the Hawaii State Library has been a passport acceptance facility since July 15, 2003. Lately we have experienced an unprecedented surge in passport demand. Due to increased demand and staff shortage, we will not be able to send representatives to attend the annual PTRC training seminar hosted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in April 2017.
PTRC activities have otherwise continued as usual throughout the year. We provided one-on-one training sessions on patent and trademark search tools to walk-in and phone-in patrons. We continue to market the PTRC services to small businesses at trade shows and clients of the Small Business Development Center.
To increase IP awareness and visibility of PTRC services, a traveling exhibit, “Protect Your Intellectual Property,” was created. Kristin Laitila, library technician for the Hawaii and Pacific Section and a former museum curator, created vibrant display panels for this exhibit as seen above, highlighting the steps toward obtaining intellectual property protection and how the library can help navigate through those steps. It was on view at Hawaii State Library from April through June 2016, and then went on tour to branch libraries.
World Intellectual Property Day was celebrated on April 23 with a seminar, “Trademark Basics: What Every Small Business Should Know Now, Not Later,” presented by Scott Baldwin, Senior Staff Attorney for USPTO’s Office of Trademark Quality Review and Training. It was exceptionally well received by the general public as well as by legal professionals. An accompanying trademark display showcased trademark products that originated in Hawaii, and was later turned into a traveling display hosted by branch libraries.
On August 13, 2016 we had the honor of hosting a two-part IP seminar, “IP Strategy Is a Business Strategy,” and “Patent 101” presented by John Cabeca, Director of the West Coast Regional U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This seasoned former patent examiner’s presentation drew much applause and appreciation from the audience.
The Hawaii State Library PTRC’s IP seminars and traveling displays contributed greatly to the general public’s growing interest in creating and protecting intellectual property in the State of Hawaii. There has been a steady increase in the number of visits from patent and trademark patrons for our PTRC services.