Originally Published MPMN May 2005

E-News

My Favorite Bookmarks

Tim Leba, Vice President of Product Development
PurePouch LLC

The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspot.gov) is a good reference site that allows users to look up patents by number or description. The site has information on filing for patents, describes the patenting process, and defines terms used in patents. It also covers information on trademarks. If nothing else, it is interesting to see some of the unusual ideas people have come up with over the years.

When you need to figure out where you’re going, Yahoo Maps (www. maps.yahoo.com) can help. The point-to-point driving directions are a great time-saver for me. Accurate directions, miles driven, and estimated travel time are all listed. You may need to take rush hour and weather conditions into account when planning your trip, however.

McMaster-Carr Supply Co. (www.mcmaster.com) distributes all sorts of hardware parts and supplies, and 98% of the items sold are shipped from stock. I use this site to purchase components when working on prototype equipment. I don’t have to buy a whole case when I only need one item, and I have it the next day.

When you have some downtime, a fun Web site to visit is the Urban Legend Reference Pages (www.snopes.com). Referred to as Snopes, the site specializes in tracking and investigating common fallacies, misinformation, old wives’ tales, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip, and similar items. So the next time you receive a seemingly unbelievable e-mail, you can go to this site to help you sort out the facts.

PurePouch LLC (Minneapolis; www.purepouch.com) has developed a machine to open, load, and seal chevron pouches on rollstock. Medical supply and other manufacturers needing an easy- open package and a sterile presentation can use pouches from their current vendors on the PurePouch machine to improve packaging throughput and reduce labor costs. Thermal-transfer and print-and-apply labeling options are available.

Corinne Litchfield

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