This is a full-year clinic offered for 10 credits (5 credits/semester). Students will receive separate letter grades at the end of the year for the seminar and the casework. The clinic is open to day and evening students in their last two years of law school and Accelerated JD students in their last year.
The IPEC provides student attorneys the opportunity to counsel clients on an extensive range of intellectual property issues, including patent (utility and design), trademark, copyright, and trade secret law. Students also counsel entrepreneurs and start-up companies on business law matters, such as formation, contract law, and IP strategy. Clinic students take primary responsibility for all client matters, under the close supervision of experienced practitioners.
IPEC Students can expect to gain hands-on experience in conducting client interviews, performing legal research, drafting transactional documents, and interacting with the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") and the United States Copyright Office. Specific skills may include counseling clients on strategies for identifying and safeguarding protectable information, contract drafting, including IP license agreements; patent and trademark searching, clearing, application drafting, filing, and prosecution; copyright registration; legislative and administrative advocacy; drafting documents for the formation of business entities; and litigation of small claims before the newly created Copyright Claims Board.
Typical IPEC clients may include artists, authors, designers, fashion designers, filmmakers, engineers and musicians who want to protect their creative efforts; entrepreneurs and small businesses seeking to build and protect their brands; entrepreneurs, and nonprofit organizations with trademark, copyright, trade secret, incorporation, contracting, and licensing needs; and individuals and businesses hoping to acquire or assign intellectual property rights.
All IPEC students are required to attend a two-hour seminar each week. This seminar focuses on substantive intellectual property law topics and legal ethics, as well as lawyering skills such as legal problem solving, client interviewing, counseling, legal writing and client communication skills. Students are also required to meet weekly with the clinic director outside of the seminar. The students will receive feedback on all documents and on all client counseling sessions. The director may accompany students to various client meetings. Each student will also submit reflection papers over the course of the year to help facilitate student learning and critical reflection.
Students accepted into IPEC must attend the clinic-wide, one-day Orientation in August. During the academic year, students will be responsible for accommodating administrative agency due dates and deadlines, as well as the needs of their clients. Therefore, students may have to work their cases during the exam period and/or during school vacations with supervision.
Perquisites: Preference may be given to students that have completed Evidence and USPTO Trademark Practice class or one of the following four (4) courses: IP Survey, Trademark Law, and/or Copyright Law. Concurrent enrollment may be considered for Accelerated JD students.