Please see the announcement below regarding USPTO’s expansion of the Law School Clinic Certification Program.

Program accepting law school clinic submissions through December 31, 2022.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is extending the submission deadline for expanding its Law School Clinic Certification Program by admitting additional schools into the program. Founded in 2008, the program currently includes 60 law school clinics and offers patent and trademark applicants access to pro bono services. It also gives law students, under the supervision of a faculty clinic supervisor, experience in practicing intellectual property law before the USPTO.

The program is administered by the USPTO’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED). Participating law school clinics must maintain the requirements for USPTO certification in order for students to practice before the agency.

“The USPTO is committed to fostering a strong and vital patent system,” said Drew Hirshfeld, performing the functions and duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. “The development of legal skills through practical experience allows advocates to effectively support and represent their clients’ interests.”

Submissions from interested law school clinical programs will be accepted on a rolling basis through December 31, 2022. Details of the program expansion and application materials are available on the Law School Clinic Certification Program page of the USPTO website.

For additional information and application submission guidelines, please contact Jennifer Harchick, Emily Sprague, Gerard Taylor, Kim Weinreich, or Charlema Grant by telephone at (571) 272‐4097 or lawschoolinformation@uspto.gov.

Law School Pro Bono Patent Applications

From the summary of the Oct. 1, 2012 Federal Register Notice 24113:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is implementing a pilot program in which a law school clinic participating in the USPTO Law School Clinic Certification Pilot Program may file an application for a pro bono client of the law school clinic and that applicant's application may be advanced out of turn (accorded special status) for examination. Each school participating in the patent pilot program would be allotted up to two applications to be examined out of turn per semester. The total number of applications to be examined out of turn by law school clinics participating in the USPTO Law School Clinic Certification Pilot Program is limited to sixty-four per year.

For more information see the complete notice.

To see what law schools are participating, access the USPTO's Law School Clinic Certification Pilot page. Note that some schools like Houston's South Texas College of Law are specializing in trademarks only and will not be filing patents.

Patent Law School Clinic Certification Pilot Program

The Patent Law School Clinic Certification Pilot Program will allow a limited number of applications to be advanced out of turn each semester beginning with the fall 2012 academic year. This increases the likelihood that applications filed by student lawyers under the guidance of a law school faculty clinic supervisor will receive substantive examination within the school year.

 The law school clinical programs "provide patent legal services to independent inventors and small businesses on a pro bono basis." That includes help with "patentability searches and opinions, advice from clinic law students regarding their IP needs under the supervision of a faculty practitioner, drafting and filing of patent applications, and representation before the USPTO."

 For more information about the advancement of examination option, see the June 20, 2012 press release. For a list of participating law schools and more details about the student lawyer program, access the Patent Law School Clinic Certification Pilot Program webpage.