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Access to justice and pro bono legal work are often associated with areas such as family, housing and immigration law (and rightfully so), but there are also barriers to accessing other forms of legal legitimacy that can only be granted by government institutions: ownership of registered intellectual property.
Some Hoosiers have great ideas and the drive to further their creative pursuits but do not have the means to do so. PatentConnect, nestled in the offices of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law Center for Intellectual Property Research, provides an opportunity for intellectual property lawyers to fill the gap.
Professor Mark D. Janis is the director of the Center for Intellectual Property Research, which hosts PatentConnect and serves as a volunteer hub site for PatentConnect. PatentConnect is backed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, while the hub at IU Maurer serves Indiana and Kentucky communities. Inventors register for pro bono services, and the PatentConnect staff pairs inventors with pro bono attorneys.
Janis reports that the attorneys see all kinds of clients at PatentConnect, but the majority of clients are “backyard” inventors who have ideas they are excited about. PatentConnect staff screen clients for eligibility and needed legal services so the volunteer patent attorney is able to work within their skillset. However, Janis notes that they want volunteering to be manageable for attorneys; volunteers are under no obligation to participate after being paired and have options if their schedules become inflexible.
Melissa Berry, associate director of the Center for Intellectual Property Research, and Steven Lesher, program coordinator, both came to this work with an interest in technology and furthering student achievement. Berry and Lesher are the force behind PatentConnect’s daily operations and success. They coordinate with clients and volunteers while also promoting the clinic and conducting volunteer outreach. Berry and Lesher ensure that attorney volunteers are not overwhelmed by administrative tasks so that they can focus on the substance of each case. Berry stressed the need for more volunteers; they hope to grow PatentConnect while continuing its historical success.
Part of this growth includes the hire of their new IP clinician, Professor Jeff Abraham. Effective July 6 of this year, Abraham joined the Center for Intellectual Property Research after serving as a vice chief administrative patent judge on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board for over a decade. Abraham shares that he was drawn to this work because he knows that “if you are on the outside looking in, the IP process can be pretty daunting. The associated legal fees can get big and get big fast. We are here to help people wherever we can.”
PatentConnect’s mission is bolstered by the efforts of the IU Maurer School of Law Intellectual Property Law Clinic. Whereas PatentConnect focuses on patents, the IP Law Clinic is able to provide pro bono services in trademark and copyright law. The IP Law Clinic is set up such that adjunct professors work with current Maurer students to help clients. Professor Norman Hedges served as the longtime IP clinician for the IP Law Clinic, and after a career in private practice was a founding member of the access to intellectual property law efforts in Bloomington. Hedges, like many other attorneys who are involved at the IP Law Clinic, also takes on clients through PatentConnect. Hedges has always had a desire to help protect people’s constitutional right to patent their inventions, even if they did not have the financial means to hire an attorney.
Hedges has particularly found it rewarding to represent IP clients during litigation where the opposing party believed they could leverage financial resources to achieve their desired outcome, regardless of the merits of the case. Through the combined work of the IP Law Clinic and PatentConnect, he has been able to represent the underdog. Hedges will be enjoying a well-deserved retirement and passing the torch to Abraham. Abraham recognizes that he is inheriting a legacy and aims to expand the network of clients and volunteers.
Jessica Van Dalen, a 15-year volunteer of both the IP Law Clinic and PatentConnect, started volunteering as a second-year associate. Van Dalen, who is now a partner in Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath’s intellectual property group, emphasized how rewarding it is to assist inventors.
“You take stress off of their plates throughout an already stressful process,” Van Dalen notes. She said you can feel the passion of PatentConnect and IP Law Clinic clients who have often dedicated considerable time, often outside of their day jobs, to honing their ideas. That passion has made her a loyal volunteer. Van Dalen shared that the opportunities for pro bono work for IP attorneys often feels limited, but PatentConnect provides a flexible and rewarding way to give back.
In a time where technology is a part of every conversation, there is a particular need to help those who could not otherwise participate in the intellectual property system do so through free legal counsel in order to gain validity, recognition and monetary benefit. Van Dalen notes that the cost of filing a patent application can easily exceed $10,000, depending on the technology and filing strategy involved. Access to invention should not be limited to those who can surpass such a high initial hurdle.
You can volunteer with PatentConnect by filling out a registration form at patentconnect.org. And while the IP Law Clinic is not organized for the same manner of volunteer services as PatentConnect, IP Law Clinic staff still encourage you to reach out for opportunities to become involved by emailing [email protected].
We encourage any intellectual property attorneys to get involved and be a part of fostering others’ creativity.•
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Madden and Clouse are associates in Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath’s Indianapolis office.
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