Director, Intellectual Property Clinic or Intellectual Property Clinical Professor of Practice

Penn State Law, based in University Park, PA, is seeking to hire an experienced legal professional to serve as a clinical professor of practice with a background in representing startup and early-stage companies on intellectual property (IP) matters, including patent-related issues. As determined by credentials and experience, the successful applicant may be appointed Director of a Penn State Law Intellectual Property Law Clinic, or, alternatively, as an IP clinical professor of practice within the Penn State Law Entrepreneur Assistance Clinic . In either case, the Penn State Law IP clinical experience is designed to provide high quality IP law experience to Penn State Law students and IP support to entrepreneurs who are affiliated with Penn State as faculty, staff or students as well as those in the surrounding community. The clinical experience is offered in direct support of the University’s Invent Penn State initiative  and Penn State President Eric Barron’s commitment to “promoting patents, licensing and start-ups” as part of Penn State’s effort to expand its already significant role in Pennsylvania’s economic development and create career opportunities for Penn State graduates . Additional responsibilities will include teaching a doctrinal IP law school class or classes. The successful candidate will also be expected to interface with other colleges and units within Penn State University and other participants in the entrepreneurial community, including the Happy Valley LaunchBox, Ben Franklin Technology Partners and the Penn State Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The successful applicant will be embedded at the Happy Valley LaunchBox, a business accelerator in downtown State College, along with the Penn State Law’s Entrepreneur Assistance Clinic and the SBDC. State College, the location of Penn State’s University Park campus, has a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and was recently named as one of the Top 10 Cities for Entrepreneurs for 2016. This position requires a J.D. degree from an accredited law school, membership in, or eligibility for admission to, the Pennsylvania Bar, and preferably registration, or eligibility for registration, with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The successful applicant will have experience working with emerging technology companies on patent-related and other intellectual property matters. Classroom teaching experience is also highly desirable, but not required. The successful applicant will have a keen desire to teach law students how to navigate this challenging area of the law and the patience to work with the students as they develop as lawyers. Other qualifications include the flexibility to work on a broad array of IP client matters and the ability to integrate IP clinical work with that of the Penn State Law Entrepreneur Assistance Clinic and the Invent Penn State initiative. Experience with, or an interest in learning, other legal aspects of early-stage entrepreneurial practice, such as entity formation, financing and inter-founder relationships, is also desirable. This position is a benefits eligible, fixed-term academic appointment beginning in Fall 2017 and funded for two years from date of hire with possibility of renewal. Starting rank is negotiable depending on the applicant’s experience. Associate Dean Victor Romero is chairing the search committee. Those interested in the position are welcome to contact him with any questions, vcr1@dsl.psu.edu, or can apply directly online at https://psu.jobs/ (Job #68394).