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Mary Anne Smith

is Director of the Chicago-Kent Patent Hub, which is sponsored by Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago-Kent College of Law. She retired in 2012 as vice president and general counsel of Illinois Institute of Technology, after 35 years representing the university as its primary attorney. Mary Anne has been a volunteer attorney for Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation since 1978, and has chaired a CVLS law clinic on the south side of Chicago since 1988.

Recent Articles by Mary Anne Smith

USPTO Patent Pro Bono Program Chicago Hub Now Available

If the attorney accepts the inventor, the match is made and the inventor is advised to contact the attorney. The attorney and client sign an engagement letter, and the Hub and inventor sign a referral agreement, setting out the inventor’s obligations in order to continue in the program. Some of those obligations include an agreement to cooperate with the attorney, to meet deadlines, to respond promptly to requests for information, and to inform the Hub if there is a significant change in income. The attorney is offered the opportunity to have a Chicago-Kent student work with him or her and the inventor at no cost to the firm.