The Harrity Academy is a free program which introduces diverse participants to the field of patent law, provides exclusive training, practice materials, and mentorship, and teaches how to effectively and efficiently draft and prosecute high-quality patent applications. The goal of this program is to help increase the number of diverse candidates entering the patent field while enhancing the quality of their overall practice.
The Harrity Academy is comprised of three courses: Patent Basics, Patent Drafting, and Patent Prosecution. Courses will be broken into regularly scheduled online classes and include practice assignments, speakers, and one-on-one mentorship throughout the course duration.
The Harrity Academy is a Diversity & Inclusion Program implemented to help rectify the disparity of race and gender in the legal field. To do so, we are providing diverse candidates with tools and resources for success.
“We believe that the ‘practice of law’ is advanced by a more diverse legal team – with diversity of background, upbringing, education, and perspective comes quality legal innovation.” – John Harrity, Managing Partner
Our Diversity Mission is to promote and nurture a respectful, highly engaged, family friendly, and inclusive culture that values the diversity of our talented team with all types of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, skills/talents, and capabilities. The Harrity Academy is just one program we’ve implemented to promote this mission.
To enroll, you must meet the following requirements:
- You have or are obtaining a technical degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or equivalent fields from an accredited college or university;
- You are able and willing to commit to every scheduled class in the selected course;
- You are female and/or considered a minority in the legal field, pursuant to the Vault and Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) Guidelines [African-American/Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Alaska Native/American Indian, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Multiracial, Openly LGBTQ, U.S. Veteran, and/or Individual with Disabilities]
PATENT BASICS COURSE [FEBRUARY 2021]
February 2, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
February 9, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
February 16, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
February 23, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
(February application window closed)
PATENT PROSECUTION COURSE [MARCH-APRIL 2021]
March 2, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
March 9, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
March 16, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
March 23, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
March 30, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
April 6, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
April 13, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
April 20, 7:00 – 9:00 PM ET
(Application window closes 2/15/21)
