Law School Clinic Certification Program

The Law School Clinic Certification Program includes over 70 participating law school clinics that provide legal services pro bono to the public, including to inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. Participating law school clinics provide patent and/or trademark legal services to qualified members of the public who are accepted as a client of a clinic. Each participating law school has requirements for accepting new clients and accepts new clients at their discretion.

Get help from a law school clinic

Students enrolled in participating law school clinic certification programs practice intellectual property law before the USPTO under the strict guidance of a law school faculty clinic supervisor. Students practice both patent and trademark law before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The Office of Enrollment and Discipline administers the program; the Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline grants the law students limited recognition to practice before the USPTO.

Students gain experience drafting and filing either patent applications or trademark applications for clients of the law school clinic. Further, as they are authorized to practice before the USPTO, they gain experience answering office actions and communicating with either patent examiners or trademark examining attorneys for the applications they have filed.

To get help, contact a participating law school clinic through their email address provided below.

Participating law schools

The following law schools participate in the USPTO Law School Clinic Certification Program. Please contact the school at the listed e-mail address to make general inquiries or request legal services.

**Acceptance as a client is
subject to the law school's
requirements and discretion

Participating law schools	Contact Information	IP practice area	Geographic area (from which the law school may accept clients)**
American University, Washington College of Law	ipclinic@wcl.american.edu	Patents and Trademarks	District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia only
Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law	Contact Link	Patents and Trademarks	All United States
Barry University School of Law	TBD	Trademarks	TBD (Commencing participation in Fall 2026)
Baylor Law School	iplawclinic@baylor.edu	Patents and Trademarks	All United States
Boston College Law School	tarrants@bc.edu	Trademarks	Massachusetts only
Brigham Young University Law School	ipclinic@byu.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Utah only
Brooklyn Law School	BLIP@brooklaw.edu	Patents and Trademarks	All United States
California Western School of Law	TrademarkClinic@cwsl.edu	Trademarks	All United States
Case Western Reserve University School of Law	lawclinic@case.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Northern Ohio only
Columbia Law School	Contact Link	Trademarks	New York State
Cornell Law School	Contact Link	Trademarks	Upstate New York only (Commencing participation in Fall 2025)
DePaul College of Law	businesslawclinic@depaul.edu	Trademarks	Chicago Metropolitan Area of Illinois
Emory University School of Law	lawpatentclinic@emory.edu	Patents	Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina
George Washington University Law School	iptl_uspto_intake@law.gwu.edu	Trademarks	District of Columbia
Gonzaga University School of Law	ipclinic@gonzaga.edu	Patents and Trademarks	All United States (preference to Washington state)
Howard University School of Law	iptrademarkclinic@howard.edu (trademarks) howardpatentipclinic@gmail.com (patents)	Trademarks Patents	All United States District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia only
Indiana University Maurer School of Law	ipclinic@indiana.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Indiana only
Lewis & Clark Law School	sblc@lclark.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Oregon only
Liberty University School of Law	ipclinic@liberty.edu	Trademarks	Virginia only
Lincoln Law School of San Jose	ipclinic@lincolnlawschool.edu	Patents and Trademarks	All United States
Loyola Marymount University Loyola Law School	TMClinicInfo@lls.edu	Trademarks	Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
Mitchell Hamline School of Law	sue.mcbrayer@mitchellhamline.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Upper Midwestern United States only (Patents) All United States (Trademarks)
New York Law School	ptoclinic@nyls.edu (patents) trademarkclinic@nyls.edu (trademarks)	Patents and Trademarks	All United States
North Carolina Central University School of Law	ipclinic@nccu.edu	Patent and Trademarks	All United States
Northeastern University School of Law	ipclinic@northeastern.edu	Trademarks	Massachusetts
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law	elc@law.northwestern.edu	Trademarks	Illinois only (preference to Chicago, Illinois area)
Oklahoma City University School of Law	eclinic@okcu.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Oklahoma only
Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University	JEngelhart@LSU.edu	Trademarks	State of Louisiana
Penn State Law, The Pennsylvania State University	IPClinic@pennstatelaw.psu.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Pennsylvania only
Roger Williams University School of Law	bsuc@rwu.edu	Trademarks	Rhode Island and surrounding States only
Rutgers Law School	jkettle@law.rutgers.edu	Trademarks	All United States
Seattle University School of Law	TrademarkClinic@Seattleu.edu	Trademarks	Washington, Alaska, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming
South Texas College of Law Houston	patent@stcl.edu (patents) trademark@stcl.edu (trademarks)	Patents and Trademarks	Texas and Louisiana only (Patents) All United States (Trademarks)
Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law	patentclinic@smu.edu (patents) trademarkclinic@smu.edu (trademarks)	Patents and Trademarks	Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, along with Northern Texas on a limited basis
Southern University Law Center	info@sulctech.org	Patents and Trademarks	Louisiana only
Suffolk University Law School	clinical@suffolk.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Massachusetts
Syracuse University College of Law	trademarks-cdlc@syr.edu	Trademarks	Upstate New York only
Texas A&M University School of Law	patc-info@law.tamu.edu (patents) tmc-info@law.tamu.edu (trademarks)	Patents and Trademarks	Texas only
Thomas Jefferson School of Law	PatentClinic@tjsl.edu (patents) TrademarkClinic@tjsl.edu (trademarks)	Patents and Trademarks	San Diego, Imperial and Riverside Counties, California (Patents) San Diego County, California (Trademarks)
UIC Law School	law-tmclinicinfo@uic.edu (trademarks)	Trademarks	All United States
UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law	ipclinic@law.unh.edu	Trademarks	All United States
University of Akron School of Law	trademarkclinic@uakron.edu	Trademarks	All United States
University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law	Law-IPClinic@list.arizona.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Arizona only
University of California, Irvine School of Law	IPATintake@law.uci.edu	Trademarks	California only (preference to Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties)
University of California, Los Angeles School of Law	uspto@law.ucla.edu	Patents	All United States (preference to Southern California)
University of Colorado Law School	elawclin@colorado.edu	Patents	Colorado only
University of Connecticut School of Law	iplawclinic@uconn.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Connecticut only
University of Detroit Mercy School of Law	IPClinic@udmercy.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario, Canada only
University of Georgia School of Law	wtracy@uga.edu	Trademarks	Georgia
University of Maryland School of Law	IPEC@law.umaryland.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Maryland and District of Columbia metro area only
University of Miami School of Law	Startup@law.miami.edu	Trademarks	Florida Only
University of Michigan Law School	trademarks@umich.edu	Trademarks	Southeast Michigan
University of Missouri School of Law	https://law.missouri.edu/elc/	Trademarks	Missouri only
University of Nebraska College of Law	eclinic@unl.edu	Trademarks	Nebraska only
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law	ipclinic@unc.edu	Trademarks	North Carolina only
University of Oregon School of Law	Contact Link	Trademarks	Oregon only
University of Pennsylvania Law School	DetkinIPTC@law.upenn.edu	Trademarks	Pennsylvania only
University of Puerto Rico School of Law	Eugenio.torres@upr.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Puerto Rico only
University of Richmond School of Law	Contact Link	Trademarks	Virginia and District of Columbia
University of San Diego School of Law	eclinic@sandiego.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Southern California only
University of San Francisco School of Law	lawclinic@usfca.edu	Patents and Trademarks	All United States
University of St. Thomas School of Law	ipctrademark@stthomas.edu	Trademarks	All United States
University of Tennessee College of Law	bkrumm@utk.edu Clinicdocs@utk.edu	Trademarks	All United States
University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law	IP@law.utah.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Utah only
University of Washington School of Law	elcinfo@uw.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Pacific Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho
Vanderbilt Law School	legal.clinic@vanderbilt.edu	Trademarks	All United States
Wake Forest University School of Law	lawiplc@wfu.edu	Trademarks	All United States
Western New England University School of Law	marie.fletcher@law.wne.edu	Trademarks	Greater Springfield Area of Massachusetts

USPTO Law School Clinical Certification Program Participating School Map

2016 Report to Congress

As required by the United States Patent and Trademark Office Law School Clinic Certification Program Act (P.L. 113-227), the Office of Enrollment and Discipline of the USPTO submitted a report to Congress on behalf of the Director of the USPTO on December 14, 2016. This report fulfilled the requirements of the act by describing the number of law schools and law students participating in the Law School Clinic Certification Program, the work done through the program, the benefits of the program, and any recommendations for modifications to the program.

A copy of the Report to Congress can be found at:

2016 Law School Clinic Certification Program Report

Information for law schools

Design Patent Practitioner Bar

The Office of Enrollment and Discipline is accepting applications for the Design Patent Practitioner Bar. Applicants should have a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate of philosophy degree in any of the following areas from an accredited college or university: industrial design, product design, architecture, applied arts, graphic design, fine/studio arts, or art teacher education, or a degree equivalent to one of the listed degrees.

Additional information can be found on the Design Patent Practitioner Flyer.

2026-2027 Expansion

The United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Law School Clinic Certification Program is accepting applications from law schools for participation in the program through April 30, 2027. Schools who would like to apply to the program should i) review the application packet and ii) complete and submit the application found here:

2026-2027 Law School Application Packet

Questions regarding the program or the application process can be directed to: lawschoolinformation@USPTO.GOV

Additional information

Questions regarding the program may be directed to the Office of Enrollment and Discipline:

Phone: 571-272-4097
Email: LawSchoolInformation@uspto.gov

See Frequently Asked Questions for more information.