Pro Bono Legal Aid for Inventors Offered in Patent Board Appeals

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office established a Pro Bono Program for under-resourced inventors in collaboration with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board Bar Association, the agency announced Thursday.

The program will provide qualified inventors with free representation from volunteer patent practitioners in PTAB proceedings. The PTAB Bar Association “willl serve as a national clearing house” connecting volunteer attorneys with eligible inventors, and will start soliciting volunteer applications immediately, the patent office’s press release said.

The program will initially help under-resourced inventors navigate ex parte appeals before PTAB. It will later expand to America Invents Act trials.

To qualify, inventors ...