MIPLRC

The Maryland Intellectual Property Legal Resource Center (“MIPLRC”) is a multi-dimensional program at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in Baltimore, Maryland. Through its three distinct components, the MIPLRC combines practical, hands-on training with rigorous academic examination of U.S. and international intellectual property laws:

• The MIPLRC’s academic unit offers traditional courses for credit to law students, as well as presenting workshops and lectures on intellectual property issues of interest to startup companies.  The MIPLRC director, Professor Patricia Campbell, is a frequent speaker at UMB’s Graduate Research Innovation District (“The GRID”) and at other events for entrepreneurs and business owners who are interested in learning more about how the intellectual property laws can be used strategically to build value in their companies.
• The Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic (“IPEC”) allows law students to provide intellectual property and business law services to high tech startup companies and individual entrepreneurs.  Working under the supervision of experienced attorneys, IPEC students assist clients with filings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the United States Copyright Office.  Student attorneys also draft nondisclosure agreements and intellectual property licenses, and they assist with business entity selection and formation.  All services are provided free of charge.  During academic year 2020-2021, IPEC student attorneys filed 15 patent applications, 40 trademark applications, and 4 copyright registrations.
• The MIPLRC’s public policy component continues to evolve.  Recently, the center received a subcontract award from the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (“CALCE”) at the University of Maryland, College Park, to conduct research and prepare a report to the Defense Microelectronics Activity (“DMEA,” a unit of the United States Department of Defense) on the laws, regulations, and policies relating to mitigation of counterfeit electronics in the DoD supply chain.  The report also examined the potential use of machine vision technologies as a tool to determine the authenticity and security of microelectronic parts in DoD systems.