Calling all New Orleans inventors!  Patent Attorney Mark Melasky, of Intellectual Property Consulting, will host a free patent registration workshop for budding inventors on Wednesday, October 23 at LaunchPad NOLA.

The workshop, titled “Applying for Patent Protection with Mark Melasky,” is the latest installment in The Ella Project’s Bar Napkin Inventions patent workshop series.  The workshop will cover a variety of topics, including when to consider registering an invention for a patent, what is needed to obtain a patent, a walkthrough of the registration process, an overview of different patent infringement issues and duties for a patent owner, and more. 

“The government has set up a lot of systems to make sure that we protect entrepreneurship, that we protect creativity, whether that be through copyright, or trademark, or patent,” said Gene Meneray, co-founder of the Ella Project.  “I think the most important thing is for everyone to know what is available to them so that they can position themselves in the best possible way to be successful.”

As an added bonus, attendees will be eligible to participate in the Ella Project’s Louisiana Invents Patent Pro Bono Program.  The Louisiana Invents program is a pro bono legal service dedicating to helping Louisiana residents, small businesses and grass roots nonprofits file their initial patent application.  The program works to connect local inventors with volunteer attorneys who can help inventors draft, file and prosecute patent applications. 

Melasky, a co-founder of Louisiana Invents, is a registered patent attorney who specializes in patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and other related intellectual property matters.  He is also an adjunct professor at the Tulane University A.B. Freeman School of Business, teaching a graduate course called Law in Marketing. 

The event will start at 5:30 p.m. and will take place at LaunchPad Nola’s office at 400 Poydras Street in Suite 900.  Please reserve a seat by emailing [email protected].  For more information about the Bar Napkin Inventions workshop series or Louisiana Invents, visit ellanola.org.