Startups Flocking To UConn Law Clinic

When Rob Leighton was trying to start up his natural foods company last July, he knew he was going to need legal guidance on a slew of issues ranging from vendor contracts to trademark protection. For help, he turned to the Intellectual Property Clinic at the University of Connecticut’s School of Law.

“For a startup that is not relying heavily on venture financing, this is a really good way to help get through the initial minefield,” said Leighton, founder of Hamden-based Kardea Nutrition.

Since opening in January 2007, the UConn law clinic has provided free legal services to more than 80 Connecticut companies. Though less than two years old, the clinic was one of six college programs nationwide recently selected to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, providing it with another important weapon in its arsenal of legal assistance for Nutmeg State startups.

Students in the program will now be able to practice either patent law or trademark law. They will be responsible for drafting and filing a patent application, a response to an office action or an appeal to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences.

As they have done since the clinic started, UConn students will be working under the watchful eye of supervising attorneys who proof their work. Program director Hillary Greene said being selected for the patent and trademark program provides a greater range of free services the clinic can provide to Connecticut companies, in addition to their current work with copyright, trade secrets and general business matters.

“What it does do is bring a depth to the experience that we offer our students,” Green said. “It comes down to what we are tackling on behalf of our clients.”

The clinic is based in the East Hartford offices of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) and it shares space with the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship, also created in 2006 with the purpose of building up new companies in the state. The combination of the two programs provides a one-stop shop for growing businesses.

“It is critical that [companies] understand how to protect their intellectual property,” said Deb Santy, program director of Small Business Innovation Research, an initiative of CCAT. “Unfortunately for these companies, money is often tight. As a first step, we recommend they meet with the UConn law department’s IP clinic.”

The more than 80 companies the clinic has worked with have come from various segments of the marketplace, from software development to nonprofit organizations.

Aside from providing legal help, the clinic is also a training ground for the state’s next generation of intellectual property lawyers. That means constant supervision from licensed attorneys, which also means the clinic works a little bit slower.

“I would say clients appreciate up front the fact that the timing might be different and things may take longer than they would if you just went to legal services in a more conventional way,” Greene said.

Leighton said timeliness was not an issue for him when he approached the clinic. Besides, he knew the alternative was going to wind up costing him.

“If you go to the large law firms, the quality of the work is great, but it ain’t cheap,” he said. “This tends to take a little more patience, but I’ve been very impressed.”

“The clients become very excited about watching the students develop and learn,” Greene said.

Other colleges selected for the patent and trademark program were American University, John Marshall Law School, University of Maine School of Law, Washington College of Law and William Mitchell College of Law.