{1 minute to read} 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

In general, the requirements are:

Income:

The inventors’ gross household income should be less than three times the federal poverty level guidelines, though some regional programs may have different criteria.

Knowledge

The inventors 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

The inventors must be able to describe the particular features of their invention and how it works.

Each of the regional programs may have additional specific requirements for admission.

Silvia Salvadori, PhD Salvadori Law Silvia@salvdorilaw.com