The USPTO has announced that this fall, it will implement a two-year pilot program in which law students at certain schools may file and prosecute patent and trademark applications, as well as handle Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences or Trademark Trial and Appeal Board filings.
The law schools participating in the pilot program are: American University; Washington College of Law; University of Connecticut School of Law; The John Marshall Law School; University of Maine School of Law; Vanderbilt Law School; and William Mitchell College of Law. Each of the schools offers an Intellectual Property Clinic that the USPTO considered relevant to participation in the pilot program.
Students who wish to participate in the pilot program must apply to the USPTO’s Director of Enrollment and Discipline, and their work must be supervised by a Law School Clinical Faculty Supervisor.
IP Spotlight 