The first seminar, which will take place at the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing (RCBI) in Huntington from 1 to 2 p.m., will include discussions on 3-D printed designs and other manufactured intellectual properties. The second seminar will take place at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine’s Harless Auditorium, located on the 1st floor of the Marshall University Medical Center from 3 to 4:30 p.m. and will focus on medical- and health-related intellectual properties.
Each program will begin with an overview of the main areas of intellectual property law (patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright) and will continue with a focus specifically on the various types of patent protection. The program will cover the statutory requirements for obtaining a patent, university ownership of inventions; the differences between a patent application and a technical publication; the differences between inventorship and authorship; issues to consider to preserve patent rights in an academic setting; and determining if an invention is ready for patenting.
The sessions will be led by Attorney Terry Wright of the firm Stites & Harbison PLLC in Louisville, Kentucky, and Amy Melton, director of the TTO at Marshall.
Wright has extensive experience advising clients ranging from small, privately held companies to multi-national, publicly traded companies. He regularly prepares protection plans for intellectual property associated with consumer goods, medical and other mechanical devices, and life sciences-associated technologies.
Wright has a background in life sciences and experience with academic research in the areas of cardiovascular biology, molecular and cellular biology, pharmacology, and biotechnology. He counsels companies and university technology transfer/licensing offices regarding strategies for protecting patent‐based intellectual property.
Melton has been with the Marshall Technology Transfer Office since 2004, providing guidance for university faculty, staff and students. She holds bachelor’s degrees in accounting and economics as well as an M.B.A., all from Marshall. During her tenure at TTO, she has amassed extensive experience in all facets of the technology commercialization process, from idea generation; federal, state and foundation grant funding support and corporate sponsored research support; research collaboration networking; material transfer; export control;, conflict of interest management; angel and venture capital; commercial licensing; and business startup development.
The seminars are free and open to the public, but reservations are requested. Please e-mail reservations to tto@marshall.edu. For more information, contact Melton by phone at 304-696-4365.