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Maryland Intellectual Property Legal Resource Center
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A JOINT INITIATIVE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF LAW with THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT and THE MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT |
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Maryland
Technology Development Center |
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POLICY STATEMENT
Mission
Recognizing the critical importance of intellectual property assets to high technology companies, the Maryland Intellectual Property Legal Resource Center was established in 2002 as a joint initiative of the University of Maryland School of Law and the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development. The Center was created to educate law students, entrepreneurs, and the community about the legal aspects of intellectual property. As part of its mission, the MIPLRC also provides free legal services on intellectual property and related matters to emerging technology companies and explores relevant legal, ethical and policy issues in the high technology and intellectual property areas.
Legal Services
The Center delivers legal services primarily through law students, who practice under the supervision of experienced faculty members. The Center is therefore a vehicle for training law students to serve the needs of early stage high technology companies. The types of legal services provided are explained in greater detail under Legal Services.
The Role of the Center
The MIPLRC provides services from its locations at the Maryland Technology Development Center in Rockville, Maryland, and the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition to offering academic courses for law students at the University of Maryland School of Law, the Center also presents workshops and lectures on intellectual property issues of relevance to high technology and biotechnology start-up companies. The Center was designed to have three distinct components: an academic program, a clinical program, and a public policy and ethics program.
- Through its academic component, the Center offers academic courses for credit to law students, as well as presenting workshops and lectures on intellectual property issues of interest to start-up companies. In the future, the MIPLRC may develop academic offerings for local attorneys, entrepreneurs and scientists, and it may also provide in-house training programs for employees and management of emerging companies.
- Through the Center’s clinical component, law students provide intellectual property and related legal services to high tech start-up companies and individual entrepreneurs. All services are provided free of charge. Since July 2002, approximately 270 clients have received legal services provided by more than 75 student attorneys.
- The Center’s public policy component is still evolving. The MIPLRC plans to provide a forum for discussion of ethical and public policy issues relating to the biotech industry, such as gene patenting and licensing, privacy of genetic information, and use of human tissue and human subjects for research. We seek to accomplish this goal by sponsoring seminars and roundtable discussions on relevant topics and by providing information to local companies on relevant legislation pending at the state and national levels.
