Law Library Receives Patent and Trademark Depository Status from USPTO
February 12, 2007
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
The University of Baltimore School of Law Library has been designated a Patent and Trademark Depository Library by the Commerce Department's United States Patent and Trademark Office. Intellectual property information on more than seven million patents and more than four million active or pending trademark registrations is accessible in PTDL-designated facilities, as is other relevant information on intellectual property in a variety of media.
The PTDL designation was made available to the public on Feb. 1. A formal celebration of this new status will be held at the library at a later date. The library is located in the School of Law, 1415 Maryland Ave. UB’s is the first PTDL in Baltimore and only the second in Maryland.
Will Tress, director of the library, said the PTDL provides an important resource for the public and ties in well with UB’s emphasis on professional development, entrepreneurial activity and innovative contributions to business, the law, public administration and combinations thereof.
"Depository status enables us to provide special access to the Patent Office database, with trained librarians to help with patent and trademark searching," Tress said. "We will be seeking opportunities to enhance learning, support research and raise the University’s profile in the business and technology community."
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property Jon Dudas noted: "The new PTDL gives Baltimore area students, faculty, researchers, inventors and entrepreneurs a unique resource right in their community. The depository program makes the wealth of information contained only in patent and trademark documents easily accessible, and the library provides expert staff assistance in its usage."
According to the USPTO, the patent and trademark depository library program is a "nationwide network of public, state and academic libraries authorized to disseminate patent and trademark information and to support inventors, intellectual property attorneys and agents, businesspeople, researchers, entrepreneurs, students, historians and the general public." Anyone needing access to patent and trademark documents can visit the USPTO's offices in Alexandria, Va., but the PTDL program makes it possible to do research much closer to home.
Services at any PTDL are offered at no charge, and include assistance in accessing and using patent and trademark documents, training on USPTO databases, obtaining access to the USPTO Web site and hosting public seminars on intellectual property topics for novice and experienced innovators. The addition of the School of Law Library to the PTDL network brings the total to 85 PTDL libraries located in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. A list of all the current libraries can be found on USPTO's Web site at www.uspto.gov.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts and the Merrick School of Business.