Patenting your invention is just one step in being able to commercialize a technology. Just being granted a patent does not guarantee that you will ultimately be successful. You need to make sure that you are not infringing on existing patents that could limit your ability to apply your technology. Ensuring that you have "Freedom to Operate" (FTO) can take many hours of a patent attorney's time.
To provide FTO analysis to selected startups at no charge, QB3 has partnered with UC Hastings. For companies accepted to the program, a team of law students with technical backgrounds will perform an FTO analysis under the supervision of an experienced attorney. The company has to interact with the students weekly to ensure progress of the project. This is a selective program. Approximately four applications will be chosen based on a match with the law students' technical background and interests. Strong preference will be given to incorporated companies with issued patents.
Applicants will learn of their status by the end of December.
To apply via our platform on SurveyMonkey Apply, click the button below. If you have not previously used SurveyMonkey Apply, there is a quick registration stage before you can fill out the form.
The deadline to apply is 5 PM on Friday, December 6.
Also of interest: The Startup Legal Garage at UC Hastings Law School has a Corporate Services Program that provides assistance with equity distribution, terms of service, vendor, customer, and employment contracts, basic funding work, and more. Startups in the corporate program pay no legal fees or equity. Our attorney partners oversee the student teams to make sure the work is done right, and our startups can spend their funding building their product instead of on legal bills. Eligibility: <$1M in funding. To avoid conflicts of interest, it is highly desirable that your company not already have a current active relationship with an attorney.
Apply thru Sunday, december 15