Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
Abstract
For artists, nonprofits, community organizations and small-business clients of limited means, securing intellectual property rights and getting counseling involving patent, copyright and trademark law are critical to their success and growth. These clients need expert IP and technology legal assistance, but very often cannot afford services in the legal marketplace. In addition, legal services and state bar pro bono programs have generally been ill-equipped to assist in these more specialized areas. An expanding community of IP and Technology clinics has emerged across the country to meet these needs. But while law review articles have described and examined other sectors of clinical legal education, there has not been an article to date that examines the rise and the role of such clinics. This is an important need to fill. With student and client and law firm demand for IP and Technology clinics, law schools want information about existing programs, and existing programs want information about the innovations of other clinics and collaboration opportunities. In addition, the traditional clinical community wants to ensure that these new programs build on the strengths of the original founding clinics. This survey data and article fills that need.
This article distills the results of a comprehensive survey of 70 directors of IP and Technology Clinics into themes that analyze the focus and aspirations of this new clinical community. It takes stock of what IP and Technology clinics were founded to accomplish, how and what they are teaching students, and what clients and missions drive them. It highlights some individual innovations to inspire the community to continue to grow and change. It concludes by assessing what these clinics accomplish, how they are faring on these goals and the role they may play in the future of clinical legal education and experiential learning more generally.
Keywords
Clinical legal education, experiential learning, pedagogy, curriculum, law school clinic, intellectual property, IP, technology, patent, trademark, copyright, privacy, data protection, public interest, social justice, entrepreneur, IP clinic, technology clinic
Publication Title
Clinical Law Review
Repository Citation
Dahl, Cynthia L. and Phillips, Victoria F., "Innovation and Tradition: A Survey of Intellectual Property and Technology Legal Clinics" (2018). All Faculty Scholarship. 1981.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/1981
Included in
Computer Law Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons, Intellectual Property Law Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legal Education Commons, Other Legal Studies Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons, Science and Technology Law Commons
Publication Citation
25 Clinical L. Rev. 95 (2018)