Law School Clinic Certification Program

The Law School Clinic Certification Program includes over 60 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	E-mail address	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'Conner College of Law	patent_clinic@asu.edu (patents) Trademark_clinic@asu.edu (trademarks)	Patents and Trademarks	All United States
Baylor Law School	iplawclinic@baylor.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Texas only
Boston College Law School	paul.tremblay@bc.edu tarrants@bc.edu	Trademarks	Massachusetts 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	Northern Ohio only
Fordham University School of Law	Fordham IPIL Clinic	Patents and Trademarks	Northeastern United States only
Howard University School of Law	clinics.husl@gmail.com (Trademarks) howardpatentipclinic@gmail.com (Patents)	Trademarks Patents	District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia only
Indiana University Maurer School of Law	ipclinic@indiana.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Indiana only
Indiana University McKinney School of Law	iuindip@iupui.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Midwestern States 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@lincolnlawsj.edu	Patents and Trademarks	All United States
Mitchell Hamline School of Law	jean.backes@mitchellhamline.edu	Patents	Upper Midwestern United States only
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 (link sends email)	Patent and Trademarks	North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia
Northeastern University School of Law	ipcolab@northeastern.edu	Trademarks	Massachusetts
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law	elc@law.northwestern.edu	Trademarks	Illinois Only (preference to Chicago, Illinois area)
Roger Williams University School of Law	bsuc@rwu.edu	Trademarks	Rhode Island and surrounding States only
Rutgers Law School	jkettle@kinoy.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-Forth Worth, Texas and 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	Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island
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
The George Washington University School of Law	sbced_uspto_intake@law.gwu.edu	Trademarks	District of Columbia 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)
Tulane University Law School	TLSIPLab@tulane.edu	Trademarks	Louisiana only
UIC John Marshall Law School	law-patentclinic@uic.edu (patents) law-tmclinicinfo@uic.edu (trademarks)	Patents and Trademarks	All United States (preference to Illinois and Midwest states) (Patents) All United States (Trademarks)
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 Trademarks (commencing participation August 1, 2018)	All United States (preference to Michigan and Ohio) and Ontario, Canada
University of Maryland School of Law	miplrc@law.umaryland.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Maryland and District of Columbia metro area only
University of Miami School of Law	Startup@law.miami.edu	Patents and Trademarks	All United States
University of Michigan Law School	trademarks@umich.edu	Trademarks	Southeast Michigan
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	All United States (preference to North Carolina)
University of Notre Dame Law School	ipclinic@nd.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Midwestern United States 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	ipclinic@richmond.edu	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	Trademarks	All United States
University of St. Thomas School of Law	IPCtrademark@stthomas.edu	Trademarks	Minnesota only
University of Tennessee College of Law	bkrumm@utk.edu Clinicdocs@utk.edu	Trademarks	All United States
University of Washington School of Law	elcinfo@uw.edu	Patents and Trademarks	Washington only
Vanderbilt Law School	legal.clinic@vanderbilt.edu	Trademarks	All United States
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law	EIPAssistance@wulaw.wustl.edu	Patents	Missouri and Illinois
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

Additional information

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

Phone: 571-272-4097
E-mail: LawShoolInformation@uspto.gov

See Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

Information for law schools

2020-2022 Expansion

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has opened the Law School Clinic Certification Program to admit additional law schools to commence participation therein. Complete application submissions from interested law school clinical programs will be accepted on a rolling basis. The deadline for submitting an application is December 31, 2022. Applications from interested law school clinics will be examined for admission into the program as they are received.

A copy of the application packet can be found at:

2020-2022 Law School Application Packet

Complete applications and requested materials should be sent to:

MAIL STOP OED
Office of Enrollment and Discipline
United States Patent and Trademark Office
ATTN: Law School Clinic Certification Program
P.O. BOX 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450

Questions regarding the program, requirements, or the applications may be directed to the OED staff attorneys:

Jennifer Harchick, Emily Sprague, Gerard Taylor, Kim Weinreich, or Charlema Grant
Email: LawSchoolInformation@USPTO.GOV
Phone: 571-272-4097

Request to Make Special Program

The Request to Make Special Program provides law students with practical experience answering office actions and communicating directly with the USPTO as they will be more likely to receive a substantive examination of applications that they file within the school year.

Informational webinar

OED hosted an informational webinar for schools interested in the USPTO's Law School Clinic Certification Program. For more details about this event, see Informational Webinar for Law School Clinic Certification Program.

Additional information

Questions regarding the program may be directed to the OED staff attorneys

Jennifer A. Harchick, Emily Sprague, Gerard Taylor, Kim Weinreich, or Charlema Grant
Email: LawSchoolInformation@USPTO.GOV
Phone: 571-272-4097