Greetings from the Patent Pro Bono Program!
Patent practitioners are uniquely positioned to help financially under-resourced inventors and small businesses file and prosecute patent applications. Here is the Pro Bono Flyer that describes the Patent Pro Bono Program in more detail.
Matches are made by local patent pro bono programs. The local programs screen applicants using criteria that include: (1) household income; (2) knowledge of the patent system, and (3) possession of an actual invention (not merely an idea).
Here in Florida, you can volunteer through the Florida Institute’s FloBono® Program. Please see www.uspto.gov/probonopatents or http://www.florida-institute.com/FloBono for more information.
As an update to our previous message last year, we are happy to announce a certificate to recognize practitioners who provide at least 50 hours of patent pro bono service to their local pro bono program during calendar year 2017. The personalized certificates will be signed by Commissioner of Patents Andrew Hirshfeld and William Covey, Director for the Office of Enrollment and Discipline. In addition, the names of the practitioners will be posted on the USPTO website. We hope that your membership will take advantage of this opportunity.
Looking for Speakers for Your Patent Bar Group?
We also welcome the opportunity to speak to your members about the Program at one of your meetings. Our presentation can include 1 hour of ethics CLE credit when demand is sufficient. Also, a USPTO representative will be in the Fort Lauderdale/Boca Raton area on March 15 and would be available to briefly discuss the Patent Pro Bono Program upon request. Please email [email protected] if interested.
Please feel free to contact the Chief Operating Officer of the Florida Institute, Jane Teague, at [email protected]. Also, feel free to contact us with any questions. Together we can make the Patent Pro Bono Program a lasting success!
Thank you,
The USPTO Patent Pro Bono Team
Grant Corboy
Staff Attorney – Patent Pro Bono Program Administrator
Office of Enrollment and Discipline
Madison West RM 7D20
United States Patent & Trademark Office
(571) 270-3102
[email protected]
www.uspto.gov/probonopatents
