Intellectual Property Law Patent Clinic

  • Noel Alsbrook

    Inventor Noel Alsbrook

  • Patent Clinic Courses at John Marshall

    Patent Clinic Courses

Our Mission

We provide degree candidates practical, fully hands-on experience with real inventors, real inventions, and real patent prosecution in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). When the cost of patent work is a barrier keeping an inventor from going forward with a useful invention, we can do the patent work for free.

Clinic Resources


USPTO UPDATE: Good news, Inventors! The United States Patent and Trademark Office will implement the new "micro entity" status on March 19, 2013. This status enables qualified, individual inventors to pay only 25% of the fees of a filer in the large entity category — a reduction of 75%. For complete details, visit the USPTO website.

Degree Candidate Information

John Marshall degree candidates started the Patent Clinic in 1994, and in 1998, a patent clinic class was created. In 2009, The John Marshall Law School Patent Clinic was among the first law schools to be certified by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in its school clinical certification pilot program.

Through this law school clinical certification program, the USPTO's Director of Office Enrollment and Discipline grants law degree candidates enrolled in the patent clinic courses limited recognition to practice before the USPTO, including the filing of patent applications and other matters.

» Read more information for degree candidates

Inventor Information

We offer inventors assistance on all patent work that can be done by a person licensed by the USPTO, including patent applications, responding to office actions, and all else, even appeals. No work requiring a law license — such as litigation and licensing — is included. Work done by the Patent Clinic is free, but inventors must pay any out-of-pocket costs to third parties, including searching costs, drawing costs, filing costs, and similar costs.

Secret information about inventions is only seen by a person, or persons, licensed by the USPTO and thus required by federal regulations (37 CFR Part 10) to keep the information secret and, if not licensed by the USPTO, having signed an agreement to abide by all the terms of 37 CFR Part 10.

» Submit your invention for consideration