Introduction
Mitchell Hamline School of Law prides itself on providing its students with a variety of clinical opportunities and assisting members of the local community with their legal needs. Among its 17 clinics, two provide students opportunities to assist entrepreneurs, inventors, and other creative types.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Law School Clinic Certification Program
In 2008, Mitchell Hamline School of Law (then William Mitchell College of Law) was one of the first six law schools in the nation chosen to participate in the USPTO Law School Clinic Certification Program, which allows students to practice patent and trademark law before the USPTO under the supervision of faculty. The clients that are assisted through this clinic include inventors who need assistance with patent applications and businesses that need assistance with trademark applications.
The Business Law Clinic
The Business Law Clinic at Mitchell Hamline School of Law provides advice to Minnesota small-businesses. This advice often concerns intellectual property matters, such as the protection of trademark and copyrights and domain name registration issues.
Contact the Clinics at the Mitchell Hamline Legal Practice Center at 651-290-6351.
The Upper Midwest Patent Assistance Program
The Upper Midwest Patent Assistance Program is not a legal clinic, but a matching program administered by LegalCORPS. MHSL staff and students work in coordination with the LegalCORPS Inventor Assistance Program to match qualifying independent inventors in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin with an attorney who is willing to provide free legal representation to low-income inventors seeking to patent their inventions with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO).
For further information about the Upper Midwest Patent Assistance Program, email: iap@legalcorps.org.