A Notice from the USPTO Patent Pro Bono Team

Please note that the listening session is available in-person or virtually. The registration link is https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/events/patent-practitioner-listening-session-patent-pro-bono-programs.

In addition, anyone may provide comments about the PPBP by responding to our request for comments published in an April 12, 2023 Federal Register Notice found at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/12/2023-07699/study-of-the-patent-pro-bono-programs-notice-of-public-listening-sessions-and-request-for-comments.

Patent practitioners can volunteer through their local patent pro bono program. Please see http://artsandbusinesscouncil.org/patent-pro-bono-program/ or www.uspto.gov/probonopatents for more information on how to volunteer. To ensure that each inventor or small business who applies to a program is a good candidate for assistance, each local patent pro bono program screens applicants using criteria that include: (1) household income; (2) knowledge of the patent system; and (3) possession of an actual invention (not merely an idea) to ensure that each inventor or small business is a good candidate for assistance.