KALAMAZOO – Everything you wanted to know about applying for and receiving a patent ? but were afraid to ask ? can be asked at a public forum on Aug. 4 in Kalamazoo.
Examiners from the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office will present The Top 10 Do?s and the Top 10 Don?ts of the nation?s patent system at 3:30 p.m. in Kalamazoo Valley Community College?s Michigan Technical Education Center (M-TEC).
?They will present a basic overview of the process,? said Kathy Johnson of M-TEC, ?and outline the steps to apply for a patent. They will explain how the system works and why it is important to receive a patent on a new idea or product.?
The one-hour session will be capped by a question-and-answer segment.
As many as 10 examiners from the office, which is an agency of the U. S. Department of Commerce, will be in Michigan that week and conclude their visit with the Kalamazoo presentation.
?These examiners are from the office?s unit that oversees patents in electrical-related communications,? Johnson said. ?They will be in Michigan to explore the state?s initiatives in RFID (radio frequency identification) technology.
?They want to touch it and feel it,? she said, ?and learn about the potential for RFID and the technology?s coming needs to prepare themselves for the patent requests that will be coming. However, at the forum, they will cover all kinds of patents.?
Kalamazoo is on the itinerary because pilot projects, education and training, employment opportunities, and business applications linked to the evolving technology of RFID are now based at the KVCC M-TEC.
?It is the coming thing in supply-chain management of all kinds of products, in inventory and asset control, in tracking shipments of goods, and in the delivery of services,? said Johnson, whose M-TEC duties include overseeing the local RFID Technology Center and the emerging technology?s implementation in Southwest Michigan and throughout the Midwest.
?The RFID Technology Center came to the M-TEC,? Johnson said, ?because all our partners want to drive it from a nonprofit point of view. We want to promote West Michigan as a research-and-development center for this new way of doing things. In that context, we are interested in more pilot projects that the center will manage, in promoting entrepreneurship in this technology, and in promoting RFID training and education.
?With this kind of an umbrella organization,? she said, ?we can address common needs and common interests, such as financing, testing, and training, especially in moving ahead with pilot projects and business startups.?
As part of their day in Kalamazoo, the examiners will visit Western Michigan University?s RFID laboratory and the M-TEC facilities, as well as converse with the center?s pilot-project partners. It?s these facilities and programs that attracted them to the community, Johnson said.
Seating is limited to 124 participants. You must register to attend this free event to assure seating availability.
For more information about the patent forum or the RFID center at the M-TEC, call Kathy Johnson at (269) 353-1253 or M-TEC executive director James DeHaven at (269) 353-1280.
