Patent Pro Bono Program for Independent Inventors and Small Businesses

Inventors and small businesses that meet certain financial thresholds and other criteria may be eligible for free legal assistance in preparing and filing a patent application. The Patent Pro Bono Program is a nationwide network of independently operated regional programs that match volunteer patent professionals with financially under-resourced inventors and small businesses for the purpose of securing patent protection. Each regional program provides services for residents of one or more states.

Requirements:

Each of the regional programs may have different requirements for admission. In general, the requirements for admission are:

Income
Your gross household income should be less than three times the federal poverty level guidelines though some regional programs may have different criteria.

Knowledge
You must demonstrate knowledge of the patent system in one of two ways:

Having a provisional application already on file with the USPTO, or

Successful completion of the certificate training course.

Invention
You must be able to describe the particular features of the invention and how it works.

Washington Pro Bono Patent Network

For Washington residents, the Washington Pro Bono Patent Network is operated by the University of Washington School of Law’s Center for Advanced Study and Research on Innovation Policy (CASRIP). For more information please click the link: http://bit.ly/2EzADOJ  or contact: [email protected].

For more information on other states please click the link: http://bit.ly/2nICfw9