2018 was a quiet year for Houston’s PTRC, though, we still assisted many local inventors.
In 2018, we had 231 requests of patent and trademark information through walked in, emails, appointments and phone calls. We held fourteen patent and trademark searching classes and there were forty-two attendees. We also had six people who came in to use PubEast and PubWest in 2018 and early 2019. Of the six people, one is an IP attorney.
In January 2019, I gave a presentation on how to use CPC classification to search for patents using USPTO and Espacenet databases to law students at South Texas College of Law Houston (STCLH). STCLH is one of the many Law Schools participate in USPTO’s Law School Clinic Certification Program which serve the States of Texas and Louisiana.
Houston PTRC has been short staff since Linda Sprio retired in 2017. In September 2018, our department head Kathy Hart, left Rice University to became supervisor of Geography & Map Division at the Library of Congress. Currently, I am the only staff member assist patrons on patent and trademark inquiries.
Submitted by Siu Min Yu