Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship Clinic

Student attorneys in the Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic (“IPEC”) will represent and counsel small businesses and entrepreneurs in intellectual property matters and will assist them in building various aspects of an IP portfolio. Student attorneys will have the opportunity to conduct trademark clearance searches, prepare written clearance opinions, and file trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). In addition, student attorneys may consult with clients on copyright issues, file copyright registrations with the U.S. Copyright Office, and provide limited-scope representation before the Copyright Claims Board in contested matters. On occasion, they may also be asked to counsel clients on protection of confidential and trade secret information, and to draft nondisclosure agreements and IP licenses. IPEC participates in the USPTO’s Law School Clinic Certification Program for both trademarks and patents, giving IPEC students limited recognition to practice before the office for purposes of filing and prosecuting trademark and patent applications under IPEC supervision. Students must have completed their first year of law school, be in good standing, and meet the course pre-requisites.

Student attorneys providing direct representation of clients in patent matters before the USPTO must also be granted USPTO recognition based on their showing they have the scientific, technical, or design background required of patent agents and attorneys as detailed in the USPTO’s General Requirements Bulletin (pages 3 through 9), available at https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/OED_GRB.pdf. Typically, patent students provide a college transcript evidencing an acceptable degree in engineering, science, or design at the beginning of the semester. Patent practice in IPEC may include performing patentability searches, drafting patentability opinions, and drafting and filing provisional and nonprovisional utility patent applications and design patent applications.

The clinic includes a classroom component, consisting of weekly in-person two-hour meetings. During these meetings, students receive instruction on practical topics such as how to conduct a trademark clearance search, how to prepare a patent application, and how to draft a nondisclosure agreement. Students may occasionally be asked to brief classmates on their projects and discuss strategy and work plans, as well as ethical challenges they are facing in their client representations. Students must also be available for additional meetings—in-person, hybrid, and remote—with existing and prospective clients that may be scheduled throughout the week. Note that these meetings will typically occur during regular business hours.

This clinic will be offered in fall 2025 and spring 2026 as a one-semester clinic for five credits. All students enrolled in fall clinic will be required to attend in-person clinic orientation on Friday, August 22, 2025, and those enrolled in spring clinic will be required to attend in-person clinic orientation on Friday, January 9, 2026, in addition to any clinic-specific orientation that the professor may schedule.

P: Intellectual Property Law Survey (May be waived with written permission from the instructor, where the student has taken multiple relevant IP courses but has not taken the IP Survey).