Trademarks, patents, and copyrights are different types of intellectual property. The USPTO grants patents and registers trademarks. The U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress registers copyrights.
As a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC), Atkins Library receives, stores and provides public access to copies of U.S. patents and patent and trademark materials. Atkins Library is only one of two libraries with this designation in North Carolina (the other is located at NCSU in Raleigh:http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/ptrc).
As a PTRC, we provide access to patent and trademark information and assistance with using search tools. We are not permitted to offer advice or opinions on the quality or completeness of a patron's search, nor are we able to suggest keywords, classifications, or other information for their specific inventions, as this could be considered unauthorized practice of law. If a patron is looking for assistance with their specific invention rather than simply with the use of the search tools, they should contact a registered patent attorney or agent (listings of currently registered attorneys and agents are available on the USPTO website).
