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South Central Intellectual Property Partnership at Rice (SCIPPR) Office Records

 Collection
Identifier: UA 0034
Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Scope and Contents

The SCIPPR office records are divided into four series. They consist of documents relating to the planning and opening of the department and its eventual closing and the business conducted by SCIPPR during its days of operation. Included are billing, patent search requests, correspondence, general office files, meetings material, equipment planning and operational material. The material in each folder is filed in chronological order.

Also included are architectural drawings by Chelsea Architects of the SCIPPR space and some larger items salvaged from the closing—framed photograph of the SCIPPR space, a plaque listing the Charter Member’s Names, and an award from the Greater Houston Partnership. There is one compact disc that has the Web material.

Dates

  • Creation: 1997 - 2002

Creator

Restrictions on Access

The general files are not restricted from access. However, all the customer requests and financial records are restricted and will eventually be destroyed, per the same guidelines as stand for the R.I.C.E. program. Records relating to SCIPPR employees are also restricted.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish from the SCIPPR records must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Biographical / Historical

The South Central Intellectual Property Partnership at Rice (SCIPPR) was established in 1997 as a partnership between Fondren Library, Rice University, and the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to provide specialized services to the region’s intellectual property community. SCIPPR was to provide fast, convenient patent and trademark service to the greater Houston area, the south central United States, and Mexico. A Patent and Trademark Depository Library since 1978, Fondren Library combined its research collections with the new resources of SCIPPR to provide specialized services for inventors, attorneys, and other researchers. For a fee the public could search for patents and trademarks using PTO databases not otherwise available to the public. Videoconferencing for classes and examiner interviews could also be used for a fee.

It was decided to close SCIPPR effective December 31, 2001. This decision was made because of 1) the high cost of the PTO charges to Rice and 2) because the level of community support and participation this service was intended to develop and the revenues expected were not enough to meet the University’s obligations for a self-sufficient, cost recovery center.

Extent

6.25 Linear Feet (13 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The South Central Intellectual Property Partnership at Rice (SCIPPR) was established in 1997 as a partnership between Fondren Library, Rice University, and the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to provide specialized services to the intellectual property community of greater Houston area, the south central United States, and Mexico. These records consist of documents relating to the planning and opening of the department and its eventual 2001 closing and the business conducted by SCIPPR during its days of operation. Included are billing, patent search requests, correspondence, general office files, meetings material, equipment planning and operational material.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was transferred from Barbara Kile, former Director of SCIPPR, in January 2004.

Title
Guide to the South Central Intellectual Property Partnership at Rice (SCIPPR) Office Records, 1997-2002
Status
Completed
Author
Sharon Link
Date
2004
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA
713-348-2586