Regional law firm Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt recently announced the creation of a new Intellectual Property (IP) legal clinic. Initially, Schwabe will partner with the Micro-Enterprise Inventors Program of Oregon (MIPO) in order to assist independent inventors with pro bono IP legal services.

“We are very excited to partner with MIPO in helping independent inventors,” said Mark Long, managing partner at Schwabe.

Schwabe’s IP legal clinic was established in order to fill the legal gap for individual inventors and mirco-enterprises who develop good ideas and inventions, and are ready to take their technology to market. Leading the effort for Schwabe in the formation of the clinic is shareholder Steven Prewitt. Prewitt is an experienced patent attorney in Schwabe’s Intellectual Property and Patent Law practice group. Through the legal clinic, inventors will have access to more than 30 of Schwabe’s IP attorneys.

“Schwabe’s partnership with MIPO has opened the possibilities to struggling inventors who have been limited by their current income level,” said Kedma Ough, executive director of MIPO. “By combining Schwabe’s legal expertise and MIPO’s ability to assist in bringing products through the commercialization process inventors can now have a reasonable chance for market success – a tremendous feat for the independent inventor.”

MIPO is an Oregon-based nonprofit organization that provides inventors, innovators, entrepreneurs and businesses with the resources, training, mentoring, consulting and connections that help them move from conception to market and has received support and funding through the Lemelson Foundation.

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