Michigan Technological University’s J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library in Houghton, MI has been home to a PTRC since 2013. Annelise Doll, Scholarly Communications Librarian, has served as the representative since 2019. Despite the complications brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Annelise has continued to faithfully provide virtual services for consultations and groups via phone, email, and zoom.
On October 7th, 2020, Annelise partnered with Michigan Tech’s Husky Innovate Program to offer the 2nd annual “Protect Your Innovation” zoom workshop to the program’s undergraduate students. The workshop provided a basic intro to patents and trademarks and hands-on searching activities in TESS and PatFT, as well as an overview of resources available to entrepreneurs from the USPTO.
Annelise kicked off the new year by teaching a virtual session on trademarks to Michigan Tech’s Intellectual Property Management undergraduate class. This course is offered biennially and 2021 marks the second time the PTRC has been tapped to lead this section. This year the instructor requested a segment on the trademark registration process, which was easily accommodated thanks to the great Trademark Basics refresher offered by the Midwest Regional Office in August 2020. In late March Annelise will be returning to this class to teach a session on patents.