Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Law Clinic
The Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Law Clinic (“IP Law Clinic” or “Clinic”) at UConn School of Law provides law students with the unique opportunity to counsel Connecticut’s innovators, entrepreneurs, and startups on a wide range of intellectual property law issues. Under the supervision of intellectual property law attorneys, students enrolled in the IP Law Clinic perform patentability and trademark registrability searches, prepare, file, and prosecute U.S. patent and trademark applications, prepare and file U.S. Copyright applications, and counsel clients on a variety of intellectual property-related matters.
Acceptance into the IP Law Clinic program is based on many factors including, but not limited to, demonstrated financial need for services, the educational opportunity for the students, the Clinic’s own resource constraints and limits on operating capacity, applicant’s presence in the state of Connecticut, the likelihood that the Clinic’s services will contribute to developing jobs or generating revenue for Connecticut, conflicts of interest, and the fit with the Clinic’s current activities and technology requirements. Clients do not pay legal fees for the services of the IP Law Clinic but are responsible for U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and Copyright Office filing fees.
Since opening in 2007, the Clinic has represented over 560 clients on various intellectual property matters. There have been 295 students enrolled in the Clinic, many of whom returned for Advanced Fieldwork for one or more semesters following completion of the base course.