OSU office assists with patent process

Friday, January 25, 2013

Since 1956, the Edmon Low Library has been the home of the Oklahoma State University Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC), the state’s only center of its kind and one of the longest-standing in the nation.

“Our offices are on the fifth floor of the library and we’re glad to provide research assistance and access to all United States registered patents and trademarks in electronic and print formats by appointment,” said Suzanne Reinman, associate professor in library documents. 

She notes the center provides assistance to students, faculty and staff at OSU as well as individuals throughout Oklahoma pursuing preliminary research through the complicated format of the patent database, which was created by the center’s federal counterpart, the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

“For the most part, patents are not included in the journal literature at libraries, so they have to be searched separately,” said Reinman. “Any search should be done with assistance from staff or by a professional in order to determine if another party has already obtained a patent on a particular invention. To be patented, the invention must be new, useful and non-obvious.”

Ray Huhnke, professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering, recommends the PTRC to his students for their preliminary research needs. Huhnke and his staff recently utilized the center for their work on the “Isolation and Characterization of Novel Clostridial Species.”

“Thanks to the help of the PTRC staff, this invention was confirmed as being a new discovery and successfully patented,” said Huhnke. “I stress the importance of intellectual property to everyone involved in our Biobased Products and Energy Center.”

The PTRC was created during the space race of the 1950s when paper copies of patents were initially obtained by the library’s Government Documents division to support the science and technology curriculum at OSU. Reinman credits technology and the convenience of online databases for continuing to strengthen the center’s service to the campus and statewide outreach.

For more information, contact Reinman at suzanne.reinman@okstate.edu or by phone at (405).744.6546. 

Story written by Debra Schlegel