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Patent and Trademark Resource Center

The Patent and Trademark Resource Center collection and the USPTO workstation are located on the 2nd floor in the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library. The collections are available for anyone to use. You do not have to be a Wright State University student, faculty or staff member to use these collections.

Reference Services offered at the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library

Recognizing that intellectual property research is a complex endeavor with important legal and financial implications, our services are designed to support the individual or corporate/legal researcher's efforts to conduct self-directed and preliminary research.

Library staff cannot offer legal advice, conduct searches, assist in writing applications, guarantee completeness of searches, or advise on ideas. All final research, regarding intellectual property determinations, should be done in consultation with proper intellectual property legal professionals.

The Reference staff will make every effort to protect the confidentiality and privacy of researchers.

Upcoming Free Informational Workshops

Appointments and Hours

If you are a first time researcher, please make an appointment with the Government and Legal Information Coordinator between 9 am and 4 pm Monday through Friday. If those times are inconvenient arrangements can be made for other times.

Reference Assistance is available during the following times:

Monday - Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

8 am - 12 am
8 am - 6 pm
10 am - 6 pm
10 am - 12 am

Library hours change for summer and academic break periods. Please call ahead for further information. 937.775.2925

Conducting a Preliminary Patent Search

Before you visit, It is recommended that you watch this online tutorial on conducting a preliminary patent search. This tutorial was created by the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Program Office, USPTO.

Miami Valley Inventors Database

Miami Valley Inventors : Historical database 1800-1875
Before there were the Wrights Brothers or Charles Kettering, there were the Ira Reynolds, the Whiteley family and John Balsley. During the nineteenth century, the Miami Valley was a leader in innovation. Ira Reynolds and his son would form Reynolds and Reynolds in the 1860s. The Whiteley family of inventors would create one of the largest industries in the Miami Valley. Their company would eventually become International Harvester.