WVU library offers patent, trademark resources; West Virginia Record, 10/7/16

Taryn Phaneuf, West Virginia Record; WVU library offers patent, trademark resources:

"The only official Patent & Trademark Resource Center in the state has been offering its services for nearly 25 years. Recently, it’s become a tool used more frequently by WVU students building businesses involving intellectual property, Marian Armour-Gemmen, the patent and trademark librarian at Evansdale Library, told The West Virginia Record...

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has a network of official resource centers all over the country at public, state and academic libraries. It is designed to assist the public, and library staff are trained in using USPTO search tools to find the patent and trademark information. The records have changed over the years — from hard paper copies to microfiche to DVDs to online databases — but the premise is the same, Armour-Gemmen said.

“It’s really important to find a similar patent to your invention,” she said. “No invention stands alone. We don’t live in a vacuum — we’re influenced by somebody. It’s important to find ones that are similar to your invention so you can show how yours is novel.”

The centers are an important resource because of the value of intellectual property. The stakes are high for an inventor or business owner looking to protect their ideas or to avoid infringing on someone else’s — a mistake that can cost a lot of money."