Patent Office Starts Training Plan for ‘Next Generation’ Lawyers

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is launching a new program that will provide more trial argument opportunities to younger and more diverse attorneys.

“Stand up” speaking opportunities at tribunals are limited, and the Legal Experience and Advancement Program, or LEAP, aims to help the next generation of patent practitioners enhance their oral advocacy skills, agency director Andrei Iancu and Patent Trial and Appeal Board chief judge Scott Boalick wrote in a blog post.

“This plays a key role in helping the USPTO achieve its goal of offering legal experience and advancement to a diverse group of practitioners,” Iancu and ...