Have patents, will share at UD Library

One of the many services available at the UD Library could be termed “Patent-ability.”

The Library, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary as a participant in the federal Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program (PTDLP), has helped thousands of people access the system and carry out patent searches, according to Thomas Melvin, associate librarian in the reference department.

Melvin says he never knows who will be on the phone or walk through the door requesting help with a patent search.

It may be someone with an idea for an invention, like the woman who had developed a reinforced, custom shoe bag for working women or the man who had modified a pedal-operated scooter, he says. It may be a person interested in family history and doing a search for his great-grandfather’s patent from the last century. And, sometimes it’s someone with special interests or a hobby, like the man who was seeking patents of model freight train car designs.

Graduate students carrying out academic research also perform patent searches, Melvin says. Examples include a student who was studying oyster rake design and another who was interested in a company that produced religious art in the last century.

One of Melvin’s more unusual requests was for help in restoring Fort Delaware’s latrines. A part of a toilet needed replacement. The researcher had the name of the manufacturer and hoped he could find a patent with specifications. It was a successful hunt, Melvin says. An 1858 patent titled “Water Closet” was found with detailed drawings so that a reproduction could be made of the missing part.

With more than 7 million patents issued, doing a search is complicated and requires training, Melvin says. For example, the shoe bag patents were listed under “article carriers,” followed by five subdivisions. The scooter was classified as “a wheeled land vehicle with propulsion means, incorporating a moveable occupant support interconnected with propulsion means—a bit wordy but accurate,” Melvin says.

Would-be inventors discover that getting a patent is time-consuming and expensive, probably at some point requiring the services of an attorney, and only 5 percent of patents issued make any money, Melvin says. “The Library cannot give any legal advice or help with applying for patents,” he adds, “but we can help with patent searches and train users how to access the system.”

Established in 1871 by the U.S. Patent Office (the name was changed to include trademarks in 1990), PTDLP originally consisted of 22 depository libraries. It numbers more than 80 today. The program was greatly expanded in 1977, both in the number of depository libraries and the services these libraries would provide, such as supplying search tools and training librarians to use them. UD became a depository library in 1980.

Melvin has been active in the PTDLP Association of member librarians and served as its president. In conjunction with the association’s annual conference, the patent office holds training sessions to keep the depository librarians up to date. For example, Melvin says, librarians received special training when the Classification and Search Support Information System went on online with texts of every patent issued from 1976 onward.

A 1981 UD alumnus, Melvin received his master’s degree in library science from Drexel University and joined the Library staff in 1989.

For help on a patent search, Melvin suggests contacting him in advance to make an appointment by calling (302) 831-6230 or by sending e-mail to [tmel@udel.edu].  

— Sue Moncure