Business & Entrepreneurship

Databases 

Business Databases

Business (Gale OneFile) 

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Understand the activities of companies and industries worldwide through leading business and trade publications. Updated daily. 

Business: Entrepreneurship (Gale) 

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Learn how to start, finance, or manage your small business. Includes sample business plans, how to guides, articles, and more. 

Communications and Mass Media (Gale OneFile) 

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Search millions of articles covering all aspects of communications, including advertising, public relations, and more. 

Economics and Theory (Gale OneFile) 

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Discover content useful for starting a business, marketing a product, developing policy, analyzing trends, and more. 

Entrepreneurship (Gale OneFile) 

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Analyze business insights, tips, strategies, and success stories. Updated daily. Best for business schools and entrepreneurs. 

Hospitality and Tourism (Gale OneFile) 

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Discover well-rounded coverage of both the historical and current state of affairs in the hospitality and tourism industries. 

Insurance and Liability (Gale OneFile) 

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Discover information about physical and intellectual asset protection, from individuals to multinational corporations. 

Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA) 

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A national residential and business directory, perfect for finding new customers or researching an industry. The business listings are comprised of over 65 million US business records, 297 million US Historical business records and 4 million New Business records (a total of over 356 million US business records). 

Value Line 

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Spanning thousands of U.S. companies, mutual funds, and other securities, industries, indexes, and economic variables, Value Line data includes everything from full balance sheet data and income statement data to capital and equity structure. 

Nancy and Jake L. Hamon Oil and Gas Resource Center 

The Nancy and Jake L. Hamon Oil and Gas Resource Center is a comprehensive collection of print and electronic materials with emphasis on investments, company information, financial management, industry surveys and statistics within the oil and gas industry and the broader energy industry. 

For additional information about our resources, or for questions about library assistance available for oil and gas research, please contact us at 214-670-1608 or business@dallaslibrary.org. 

Collection Highlights 

• AAPG Bulletin 

• The American Oil & Gas Reporter 

• Hart's E&P 

• JPT: Journal of Petroleum Technology 

• Natural Gas Week 

• Oil and Gas Investor 

• Oil and Gas Journal 

• World Oil 

Featured Resources 

• Armstrong Oil Directories, Texas and Southeastern New Mexico 

• Applied Petroleum Reservoir Engineering 

• Biofuels : Production and Future Perspectives 

• Denton County, Texas Lease Summary Map : ... Quadrangle (Tobin) 

• Enhanced Oil Recovery in Shale and Tight Reservoirs 

• Handbook of Alternative Fuel Technologies 

• Handbook of Petroleum Product Analysis 

• Natural Gas Processing from Midstream to Downstream 

• The Science and Technology of Unconventional Oils : Finding Refining Opportunities 

• The Shale Dilemma : a Global Perspective on Fracking and Shale Development 

• Tarrant County, Texas Ownership Summary Map : ... Quadrangle (Tobin) 

Patents & Trademarks 

 As a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC), Dallas Public Library is designated by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to provide free access to U.S. patents and trademark documents in the various formats in which they are published, trained staff to assist in using the resources and public seminars on intellectual property topics. In addition, the PTRC includes a substantial collection of other intellectual property resources, including practical guidance for inventors and others seeking to protect and commercialize intellectual property. 

The PTRC is housed in the Central Library's 6th Floor. Contact staff at 214-670-1468 or government@dallas.gov. The library can provide introductory instruction in searching U.S. registered and pending trademarks using USPTO databases. Please note that we cannot do a search for you or provide other forms of legal assistance. If legal assistance is needed, please consider the following resources: 

• What a Private Attorney Could Do to Help Avoid Potential Pitfalls - Guidance from the USPTO addressing the potential benefits of hiring a private attorney when filing a trademark application, and how to find an attorney. 

• Patent Attorney/Agent Search - Directory of active patent attorneys and agents available from the USPTO's Office of Enrollment and Discipline. 

• Nationwide Pro Bono Program Information - Texas is one of several states for which the USPTO offers pro-bono patent assistance to financially under-resourced independent inventors and small businesses. This Webpage provides information about qualifications for the program, as well as access to the national clearinghouse used to request assistance. 

Patent Overview and Resources 

General Patent Information from the USPTO 

• USPTO Learning Resources 

Search for Patents 

Find out if your idea has already been patented, get a copy of the complete drawings and specifications of a particular patent or find out what types of research are being done by certain companies or individual inventors. 

• Search for Patents 

• Index to the United States Patent Classification (USPC) System - Alphabetic list of subject headings providing an initial entry point into the U.S. patent classification system. 

Filing a Patent Application with the USPTO 

• Applying for a Patent 

• Forms For Patent Applications Filed On Or After September 16, 2012 - USPTO Webpage providing access to various forms related to application filing. 

• Nonprovisional (Utility) Patent Application Filing Guide - USPTO instruction guide detailing the process for applying for a utility patent. In general terms, a utility patent protects the way an article is used and works. 

• Provisional Application for Patent - A provisional application is a quick and inexpensive way for inventors to establish a U.S. filing date for their invention which can be claimed in a later filed nonprovisional application. Provisional application is an option for utility patents and plant patents. 

Trademark Overview and Resources 

Trademark Basics 

Trademark Search Resources from the USPTO 

• Search Trademarks - Database of trademarks that are federally registered or that are pending (applications undergoing examination at the USPTO). 

• U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual (ID Manual) - Use to identify acceptable terms for the goods or services being searched. 

• USPTO Design Search Code Manual - If searching for a mark's graphic design components, use this resource to identify correct design search code(s) to use. 

Filing a Trademark Application with the USPTO 

• Apply for a Trademark 

• Fee Schedule - includes USPTO fees for trademark processing. 

• State Trademark Information Links - USPTO list of state trademark offices. To acquire trademark and/or service mark registration at the state level, applicants must file an application with the trademark office of the specific state in which protection is sought. 

• International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification - NCL) - Classification system used in the U.S. and over 80 other countries for registration of marks. 

• Trademark Litigation Online Toolkit - answers to common questions about trademark litigation. 

Copyright Overview and Resources 

What is Copyright? 

Copyright Search 

• Search Copyright Records - Web-based database from the U.S. Copyright Office containing copyright records from 1978 to the present. 

• Copyright Search Tutorial - Guide to searching the Copyright Office Catalog  

• Catalogs of Copyright Entries - On-going project to digitize pre-1978 copyright records. Volumes that have already digitized may be browsed from chronological arrangement, or by subject / keywords. 

• Dallas Public Library holds pre-1983 copyright records catalog on microfiche on the 6th floor of the Central Library.  

• How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work - introduction to how to investigate whether a work is under copyright protection and, if so, the facts of the copyright. 

• The Copyright Card Catalog and the Online Files of the Copyright Office - Describes the repositories of copyright registration information available online and in print, and issues related to searching. 

Filing a Copyright Registration 

• eCO Online System - Entry Page to the U.S. Copyright Office's eCO (Electronic Copyright Office) Online System.  

• eCO Tutorials  

• Fees - U.S. Copyright Office - Fees for copyright registration, recordation, and other U.S. Copyright Office services.