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March 18, 2004

Randy Nehrt

White Announces Free Seminar on Researching Patent and Trademark Information

SPRINGFIELD — Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White has announced that the Illinois State Library and the St. Louis Public Library will host a free, full day public seminar May 18th entitled "Researching Patent & Trademark Information: A Free Seminar for Inventors and Entrepreneurs."

White said the staff of the Patent & Trademark Depository Library Program of the United States Patent & Trademark Office will conduct the event. The seminar will take place from 8:30am to 5:00pm at the Illinois State Library, 300 South 2nd Street, Springfield.

The seminar will include sessions on how to conduct a patent search, effective trademark searching, resources for inventors, an overview of patents, trademarks, copyrights & trade secrets and patent and trademark services at the Illinois State Library and the St. Louis Public Library.

The Illinois State Library and the St. Louis Public Library are two of the 86 Patent & Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs) in the United States and Puerto Rico. The Illinois State Library is celebrating its 20th year as a Patent & Trademark Depository Library, and the St. Louis Public Library joined the original Patent Depository Library Program in 1870. As PTDLs, both libraries offer all the depository library materials provided by the United States Patent & Trademark Office, have extensive intellectual property collections and have library staffs trained to assist inventors, patent attorneys, entrepreneurs and other interested persons.

Persons may register for the seminar by calling 217-782-5659 or online at: http://www.islcleo.org. While the seminar is free and open to the public, advance registration is required by May 4th.