UTK opens Tennessee’s first Patent and Trademark Resource Center in the Hodges Library
On Friday, August 14, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) opened Tennessee’s first and only Patent and Trademark Resource Center, giving inventors, researchers and entrepreneurs across the state free access to intellectual property search tools, workshops and one-on-one guidance.
University supporters, entrepreneurial support partners, and innovators gathered to celebrate the moment.
The center is housed on the first floor of Hodges Library inside UT’s Office of Entrepreneurship and New Ventures. Having a “storefront” where students, faculty, and community members could easily recognize the resource was a big selling point for the second-floor location.
The new center is part of a nationwide network established by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The center will hold open office hours on Tuesdays, plus dedicated research lab time and consultations.
The university also announced new workshops that are slated to launch this fall, covering patent searching and the intersection of intellectual property and artificial intelligence (AI). Molly Cross, UT’s innovation and entrepreneurship librarian, was one of the people who led the push to bring the center to campus and will run its workshops and research guides.
Marc Gibson, UT’s associate vice chancellor for research, told the attendees at Friday’s celebratory opening that the designation reaches well beyond campus.
“The new USPTO research resource in the Hodges Library is the first PTRC in the entire state of Tennessee,” Gibson said. “I cna;t stress this enough…This center is a huge, huge resource for the entire state, not just for students and faculty on campus.”
Gibson tied the center to UT President Randy Boyd and UTK Chancellor Donde Plowman’s shared goal of creating 250 new UT-related startups by 2030. He said that reaching that number depends on lowering barriers for people with an idea but who do not know where to start.
“The PTRC gives our researchers and entrepreneurs another front door into the innovation ecosystem, particularly for those who may have an idea but don’t know where to turn,” Gibson said.
Notably, Elizabeth Dougherty of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office delivered the keynote during Friday’s celebration. Dean of Libraries Steve Smith also spoke at the opening, as did a panel of entrepreneurial support organizations across the UT System, including UT’s Office of Entrepreneurship and New Ventures, the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the UT Research Foundation.
Gibson said every barrier the center removes strengthens the state’s broader innovation ecosystem.
“Every time we remove a barrier, connect another resource or create another pathway for an innovator, we strengthen the entire ecosystem,” he said.
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