Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic

The new Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic will have its first class of students and be available to assist clients beginning this January 2012. The purpose of the Clinic is to provide students with valuable experience in applying substantive intellectual property law to client problems, and to offer assistance to local businesses and entrepreneurs. Students will work under the close supervision of the Clinic Director, Jodi Clifford, who has substantial private practice experience.

Information for Potential Clients

The Clinic does not charge a fee. While the Clinic will assist clients on a variety of intellectual property related matters, it is focused on transactional matters and will not handle litigation or contested matters. Exemplary matters include patent searches and provisional patent preparation, trademark searches and registration, as well as intellectual property agreement and licensing issues.

If you are interested in becoming a client, please contact Professor Clifford at Jodi.Clifford@nd.edu

Information for Students

The Clinic will give students the opportunity to work directly with clients, develop practical skills, and gain experience counseling and advising clients on intellectual property issues. Under the close supervision of full-time faculty, students will take primary responsibility for the cases and clients to which they are assigned. Students will receive 5 credit hours and are graded on the quality of their work and the amount of responsibility they assume for meeting client needs.

The clinic includes a classroom component focused on substantive intellectual property law and core lawyering skills, such as interviewing and counseling clients. The classroom component is a mixture of lecture, discussion, and simulations. Participation in the classroom component is required for the course.

Contact Information

To learn more, please contact the clinic director:

Professor Jodi Clifford
Director, Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic
1112 Eck Hall of Law
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Jodi.Clifford@nd.edu
574-631-1148