Holland & Hart’s Patent Prosecution and Counseling team and attorney Rachel Carnaggio received a Patent Pro Bono Certificate of Recognition from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for supporting the Mi Casa Resource Center’s Pro Bono Patent (ProBoPat) Program. Since 2013, Holland & Hart has assisted 18 inventors through the ProBoPat program, including assistance with filing 15 non-provisional and 5 provisional applications, and having seven patents issued to ProBoPat inventors.
Rachel Carnaggio has been involved with the ProBoPat Program for seven years, working with low-income inventors to help them understand and navigate the process of obtaining patent registrations to protect inventions. She is among attorneys and patent agents recognized for donating 50 or more hours to a pro bono patent program. Rachel regularly handles several pro bono cases each year and was recognized this year for her contributions working with a blind inventor who developed a navigation system for the visually impaired and another inventor who invented insect repellant clothing.
This year, the USPTO also recognized Holland & Hart’s patent team for its support of the ProBoPat Program by providing at least 250 hours of volunteer services to financially under-resourced independent inventors and small businesses. These attorneys, including Per Larsen, Matt Montgomery, Nathan Mutter, Josh Randall, and Dick Schulze, helped inventors in the Mountain West region prepare, design, and register their patent applications.
The ProBoPat Program, a program provided by Mi Casa Resource Center, seeks to connect low-income inventors who are residents of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming with patent practitioners for patent application preparation and prosecution legal services on a pro bono basis, as well as to provide access to general business consulting, training, and other resources for bringing new ideas to market.