A message from our Director Judy Gire

On January 3, 2012 I received notification from David J. Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, that the UNH School of Law Library has been officially designated as a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC).  Our library is now part of a nationwide network of public, state and academic libraries designated as PTRC's and authorized by 35 U.S.C. sec. 12 to disseminate patent and trademark information and support diverse intellectual property needs of the public. 

The PTRC Program (formerly known as the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program or PTDL) has been in existence since 1871 to provide public access to patents. For many years the Dimond Library at UNH served as New Hampshire's PTDL, followed by the NH State Library. More recently, there has been no patent depository library in the state. For two decades, the PTO has wanted the UNH Law Library to participate in the program, but we were wary of the costs of housing and providing public access to the required physical collection of print or microfiche patents. Recently, however, requirements for participation have changed. There is no longer any commitment to physical holdings of patents and the participating library may define the "customer" base it chooses for outreach and training. One staff person must be the designated expert to assist patrons and do some training which can be done via computer. Our Intellectual Property Librarian Jon Cavicchi will serve as our "designated expert."

The benefits of UNH Law School becoming a PTRC are: (1) we are now New Hampshire's PTRC which supports the law school's social justice mission by facilitating access to U.S. patents which arguably leads to increased innovation for the citizens of New Hampshire; (2) providing a flexible platform for the library to target and attract people and groups to the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property which supports the law school's commitment to intellectual property; and (3) providing access to the patent searching system used by examiners which will allow students to be trained on this system and supports the law school's educational mission. 

In short, the UNH Law Library's participation in the PTRC Program is a no-cost, natural fit for the IP Library and the school. My thanks to Jon Cavicchi for making this happen.