Libraries Launch Patents Database

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – What do blackberries, superconductors and solar cells have in common? The University of Arkansas System holds patents in those fields and many others, the direct result of academic invention. Now anyone can browse or research patents granted to the University of Arkansas and the UA System Division of Agriculture thanks to a new patents database created by the University Libraries.

A patent is a formal recognition of a new invention awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The University of Arkansas helps faculty and research scientists identify, protect and commercialize intellectual property developed from their research. The inventors for these patents are faculty, researchers and staff affiliated with the Fayetteville campus or the Division of Agriculture.

The patents database provides a tool for advancing knowledge and awareness of patents granted to researchers and inventors at the University of Arkansas. The database, which covers the years 1976 to present, allows users to search patents by author, keyword (like “blackberries”), patent title, departments and more.

“The university pursues patent protection for innovative research by our world-class faculty,” said Susie Engle, a commercialization manager for the University of Arkansas Technology Ventures. “In doing so, the UA supports a lasting knowledge-based economy which benefits Arkansas and the world.”

As a precursor to this database, a patent bibliography was compiled and analyzed by Luti Salisbury, the chemistry and biochemistry librarian, and library supervisor Jeremy J. Smith. It provides a graphical visualization of patent information, including the number of patents granted by college, department and decade, noting collaborations between and among colleges and departments. This useful comparative information is also accessible on the database website.

“Our land-grant mission is based on transferring useful knowledge from the university to the world, and patenting is one way to accomplish that transfer,” said Lisa C. Childs, assistant vice president for technology commercialization for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “I am delighted that the University Libraries have made more than 35 years of that history accessible.”