THE PATENT PIPELINE PROGRAM

How to Start your Own PPP

Starting a PPP with your company is an easy process. It begins by identifying outside counsel (OC) that you would like to strengthen their relationship with your organization, while desiring to increase diversity. The selection of OC should be based upon one or more of the following factors:

1. The firm embodies the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that align with your company culture;

2. Can use additional support for DEI initiatives and staffing;

3. Is a good breeding ground for new diverse recruits;

4. Has practices in place to advance careers of diverse recruits (e.g., diverse recruits given meaningful assignments, mentorship, professional development, career & educational advancement opportunities); and

5. Is willing to commit to hiring one or more diverse Technical Specialists/Patent Agents full-time within the next 4-6 months at an annual salary of $100K with a two-year commitment and intend to support the Technical Specialists/Patent Agents to transition to law school if they so choose.

In order to ensure the success of the program, the sponsoring company must incentivize OC to participate in the PPP by doing one or more of the following: (1) creating a diversity mandate (e.g., requiring 50% diverse practitioners staffed on company assignments); (2) increasing the relationship with & visibility for OC; (3) providing additional spend for OC to support the hire of new Technical Specialists/Patent Agents; and/or (4) remaining committed to the OC for the duration of the program. The company also has to determine if it has the bandwidth to allow Technical Specialists and Patent Agents to be seconded with the company (at the OC’s expense), with a commitment to a fixed duration (e.g., one month to provide meaningful experiences).

PPP Timeline

Once the foregoing is achieved, the NCPP will work to orchestrate the PPP. Specifically, the program includes:

1. Recruiting and training Technical Specialists/Patent Agents to prepare them for the patent workforce (training duration is flexible) at a cost of $10K to the sponsoring company, and $10K per candidate billed to OC who are participating in the program;

2. Technical Specialists/Patent Agents begin with OC as Technical Specialists (possibly with no benefits) with a salary comparable to or above that of an engineer to incentivize their transition during their probationary period (duration is flexible and can coincide with the training duration).

3. If the company has bandwidth to allow Technical Specialists/Patent Agents to be seconded with company, then during the Technical Specialists’/Patent Agents’ probationary period, they can be seconded with the company to gain in-house patent counsel knowledge (duration flexible), which provides:

   1. Additional guidance to Technical Specialists/Patent Agents on in-house patent procedures and business/IP strategy that they can utilize as OC

   2. Additional internal knowledge into the company’s products & technology

   3. Resume bolstering for Technical Specialists/Patent Agents if they are ever considered for an in-house counsel position with the company at a future date.

4. Technical Specialists/Patent Agents return to OC to draft/prosecute the company’s patent matters and complete their probationary period (duration flexible)

5. Upon successful completion of the program, the Technical Specialists/Patent Agents are offered a full-time position with OC as Technical Specialists/Patent Agents.

Check out the links below to learn more on how to work with PPP:

More Details on the ADAPT PPP User Guide 

PPP Blueprint