The IP for the People Open Academy for Grassroots Intellectual Property Awareness
The IP for the People (IP4P) Open Academy for Grassroots Intellectual Property Awareness
IP for the People is a FREE digital, open access academy for creators, inventors, and entrepreneurs from communities of color who have historically and continually been locked out of receiving key knowledge and resources related to protecting and profiting from their ideas.
About the Academy
The IP for the People (IP4P) Open Academy for Grassroots Intellectual Property Awareness is a mostly virtual educational hub presenting short topical course sessions on a yearlong, semester-by-semester basis. This free, online masterclass series offers easy to digest and engaging talks on IP rights and navigating the IP system, highlighting tips and resources via live webinars and an on-demand video series. Each online webinar features guest instructor(s) sharing their subject matter expertise with a presentation, professional & educational resources, as well as a segment for Q&A from the audience.
Are you…
figuring out your next steps for a new idea or invention?
a small business owner with a business or product name to protect?
an artist, writer, or other creative?
an entrepreneur interested in learning about IP?
new to business and entrepreneurship in general?
Tuesday, January 30
Time: 7 pm ET
Session 5: Practical Guidance on Protecting Your Patent and Trademark
During this 1 hour webinar participants will learn what to expect when filing patent and trademark applications with the USPTO, including examples/stories from people who went through the process.
Instructor(s):
Victor Wang, Director, Cardozo / Google Patent Diversity Project; Interim Director, Tech Start Up Clinic; Visiting Clinic Professor of Law – Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Tuesday, February 20
Time: 7 pm ET
Session 6: How to go from Inventor to Entrepreneur
During this 1 hour webinar participants will learn strategy development for establishing your small business to bring your invention to market.
Instructor(s):
Dr. Russ Barnes, Colonel, USAF (ret.), PhD., Business Strategist, Executives and Entrepreneurs, Systro Solutions
Tuesday, December 5
Time 7 pm ET
Session 4: Funding Your Business
Now that you have a company, how do you raise the capital to run it? During this 1 hour webinar, participants will learn about:
- Sources of Funding: We are going to be a wild success. Where do I get capital to take us there?
- Funding Instruments: People want to invest! What does that look like?
- Development Programs: How can I get thoughtful support and meaningful capital?
- Investment Terms: We’ve decided on the appropriate form of funding. What are the key terms that investors will want in exchange?
- Due Diligence: I want to be prepared once we have a signed term sheet. What can I do now to facilitate a smooth and efficient due diligence process?
Moderator: Chitrajit Chandrashekar
Instructor(s):
Wifredo Fernandez
Lata Setty
Michael Ladipo
Frequently Asked Questions
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Latest Sessions
Fall 2023, Session No. 1 | USPTO Provides Trademark Basics for Entrepreneurs
October 12, 2023 | 7PM EST
Guest Instructors:
- USPTO Deputy Director Derrick Brent
- Jason Lott, Managing Attorney for Trademarks Customer Outreach
Session Description:
Join us for a discussion about what all entrepreneurs, small businesses, and start-ups should know about trademarks. We’ll discuss what trademarks are, the benefits of federal trademark registration, and the basics of the registration process. We’ll also talk about why it’s so important for any new business to select a trademark that is both federally registrable and legally protectable. We’ll close out the discussion with a question-and-answer session and direct you to free resources from the USPTO.
Fall 2023, Session No. 2 | Starting Your Business
October 18, 2023 | 7PM EST
Moderator: Quinn Hendricks, Student, University of Miami School of Law
Instructors:
Jennifer Cheng, CEO and Founder, PTM Therapeutics
David Flechner, Partner, Allen & Overy
Keith Spence, Partner, Johnson & Oshan Law
Session Description:
Starting Your Business. Got an idea? Want to turn that idea into a company? During this 1 hour webinar, participants will learn about:
- Types of Business Entities: Sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation – what’s the difference and why does it matter?
- Jurisdiction/Where to register your entity: Does it really have to be Delaware?
- Funding/Capitalization: I have a co-founder and some other folks are helping us grow. How should we split up the pie?
- Entity Rules and Requirements/Corporate Governance: I formed an entity. What else do I need to know?
Fall 2023, Session No. 3 | Business Agreements/Contracts
Monday, November 13, 2023 | 7PM EST
Co-hosted by: Allen & Overy
Guest Instructors:
- Katie Mladinich, Grail
- Shayne O’Reilly, Meta
- Diana Santos, IBM
Session Description:
Running Your Business: You’ve heard that contracts are important. What are the issues you should be aware of?
During this 1 hour webinar, participants will learn about:
- Employment agreements
- Joint venture agreements with universities
- Third party agreements
- Open source agreements
Fall 2022/Spring 2023 Schedule
Co-sponsored by:
Thursday, September 29 at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT
During this 1 hour webinar, we provided:
- an explanation of what intellectual property rights are;
- real-world examples of how they come up in your business ideas and creative processes;
- an interview with an author that will share how she learned more about IP law and how that has helped her;
- resources for more information, including how to get free or low cost legal help; and
- time for questions.
If you missed this webinar, watch the replay on our Youtube channel.
Tuesday, October 25 at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT
Webinar Presenters:
Victor Wang, Director, Cardozo / Google Patent Diversity Project; Interim Director, Tech Start Up Clinic; Visiting Clinic Professor of Law – Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
During this 1 hour webinar, we provided:
- patent law basics; and;
- patent strategy for entrepreneurs.
If you missed this webinar, watch the replay on our Youtube channel.
November 17, 2022 at 7:00 pm ET
During this 1 hour webinar, participants heard from individuals with engineering backgrounds that have built careers in patent law. In addition, participants learned of resources to help them pursue opportunities in patent law.
Webinar Panelists:
Devon Grant – Senior Patent Counsel at Visa
L. Scott Burwell – Partner at Finnegan Henderson
Ayana Marshall – Patent Data Analyst at Harrity LLP
David Pointer – Partner at Thomas Horstemeyer
If you missed this webinar, watch the replay on our Youtube channel.
February 8, 2023 AT 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT
Tune in to hear students from Howard University Law School provide information for student athletes about intellectual property. In particular, presenters will discuss publicity rights, which include name, image, and likeness followed by a Q&A session.
For more information on this topic, check out our webpage: Student Athlete Name Image Likeness
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 7 pm ET
During this 1 hour webinar, participants:
- Learned about intellectual property in creative work, especially in the field of arts and entertainment, and including digital content;
- Gained a deeper understanding of copyright issues surrounding creative work and publicity rights relating to their image; and
- Received real-world insight from a panel of experts and creators.
Webinar Presenters:
Shreyanka Mirchandani Changaroth, Wikimedia Race and Knowledge Equity Fellow – IIPSJ
Kim Tignor, Executive Director – IIPSJ
Lita Rosario-Richardson, Income Shareholder – Shulman Rogers
Crystal Waters – House Music Icon
If you missed this webinar, watch the replay on our Youtube channel.
Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at 7 pm ET
During this 1 hour session, participants learned:
- IP must-haves when you are building your business
- Strategies to protect the core of your business with limited capital
- Turning your IP into a product
- Protecting your IP when you are pitching to investors
Webinar Speakers:
Micheal Binns, Associate General Counsel and Head of Patent Portfolio Strategy (Family of Apps) and IP Trade Secret Protection – Meta
Danielle Coleman, Senior Director and Associate General Counsel, Global Litigation – VMware
Jessica Thomson, Patent Counsel – The Walt Disney Company
Webinar Moderators:
Lisa Nguyen, Partner – Allen & Overy
Leeandria Williams, Legal Intern – IIPSJ
If you missed this webinar, watch the replay on our Youtube channel.
Thank you to our Academy Guest Instructors!
Guest Instructors
Victor Wang
Director, Cardozo/Google Patent Diversity Project & Acting Director, Tech Startup Clinic
Cardozo School of Law
Taught: Fall 2022, Session #2 – Patent Law for Engineers
Devon Grant
Senior Patent Counsel
Visa
Taught: Fall 2022, Session #3 – Careers in Patent Law for Engineers
Scott Burwell
Partner
Finnegan Henderson
Taught: Fall 2022, Session #3 – Careers in Patent Law for Engineers
Ayana Marshall
Patent Data Analyst
Harrity LLP
Taught: Fall 2022, Session #3 – Careers in Patent Law for Engineers
David Pointer
Partner
Thomas Horstemeyer
Taught: Fall 2022, Session #3 – Careers in Patent Law for Engineers
Lita Rosario-Richardson
Income Shareholder
Shulman Rogers
Taught: Spring 2023, Session #5 – IP Basics for Creators
Crystal Waters
House Music Icon
Taught: Spring 2023, Session #5 – IP Basics for Creators
Micheal Binns
Associate General Counsel and Head of Patent Portfolio Strategy (Family of Apps) and IP Trade Secret Protection
Meta
Taught: Spring 2023, Session #6 – Intellectual Property (IP) for Entrepreneurs
Danielle Coleman
Senior Director and Associate General Counsel, Global Litigation
VMware
Taught: Spring 2023, Session #6 – Intellectual Property (IP) for Entrepreneurs
Jessica Thomson
Patent Counsel
The Walt Disney Company
Taught: Spring 2023, Session #6 – Intellectual Property (IP) for Entrepreneurs
IIPSJ Institutional Partners
Grassroots IP Awareness
Grassroots IP Awareness
Promoting community oriented efforts and messaging aimed at empowering creators of underserved communities in owning, protecting, and monetizing their intellectual property
IIPSJ takes a targeted approach to grassroots intellectual property awareness by utilizing learning workshops, advocating for specific public policy measures and developing relevant public service update campaigns in order to bring IP to the masses, especially the lost Einsteins. Events such as IP for the People, public policy campaigns such as Increasing Inventor Diversity and educational resources such as Updates on Student Athletes NIL do just that.
IP for the People 'Ask Me Anything' style Events
The new Intellectual Property for the People educational webinar series is for Creators, inventors, and entrepreneurs from communities of color who have historically and continually been unable to access key knowledge and resources to protect and profit from their ideas. The series brings understanding to the IP rights and resources available to you. Each webinar in the series will feature a presentation, resources for additional information, and time for questions from the audience.
Advocacy for Inventor Diversity
Economic power is often dependent upon intellectual property. IIPSJ seeks to empower minority and marginalized communities as inventors to compete for and attain a stake in the 21st century economy.
Educational Resources
COMING SOON: Downloadable Content such as Updates Student Athletes NIL are among many of the educational resources provided to increase grassroots awareness of IP.