Established in 1949 as a non-profit foundation at George Washington University, the well-known ETC Research Foundation is now the research and educational arm of the Academy relating to intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and scientific or technical information. In 1999, the Academy, recognizing the importance of continuously advancing education, knowledge and understanding of the law as it effects the progress of science and the useful arts in innovative processes, became the official home for the Foundation.

About the PTC Research Foundation:

www.ptcresearch.org

PAST (at George Washington University)
 Many current intellectual property practitioners, academicians, industrialists and government officials may have forgotten the genesis of the Patent, Trademark and Copyright (PTC) Research Foundation.? The PTC was founded by the patent section of the American Bar Association, and is intended to serve the United States and the world. more

PRESENT
 The PTC, under its broader charter to involve academia and the technological and business communities as well as legal practitioners, continues its tradition of highly interdisciplinary conferences and associated research activities. more

FUTURE
 The PTC, with loyal support of the intellectual property departments of largely American corporations and private law firms, and occasional outside grants, has developed steadily, but not yet with the quality, speed, effectiveness and service it can and must achieve. Help make this intellectual property research resource truly yours and that of the nation. more

PTC Research Foundation Affiliations:

NATIONAL INVENTORS COUNCIL
 During WWII, the National Inventors Council came into being due to the recognition that inventions and ideas of the citizenry could play an important role in the war effort, and its activities and expanded charter were transferred to the Academy in 1973. more

THE FRANKLIN PIERCE LAW CENTER
 In 1973, Robert Rines founded the Franklin Pierce Law Center with a specialty in training lawyers in the area of intellectual property law. T he same year it was founded, the Law Center also became the? home of the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Research Foundation. The Foundation is now based at the Academy.? more

PTC Research Foundation Programs:

PACT (Promotion of Advanced Commercial Technology)
 Under the impetus of a new patent law program in the People's Republic of China, the Academy of Applied Science was asked to assist Chinese universities and individual inventors in bringing their ideas to American businesses. This venture was developed under the aegis of a program called PACT, now more broadly embracing new technologies from the United States and Western Countries.? more