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This Agreement is entered into between the National Association of Patent Practitioners, Inc. (“NAPP”) and the undersigned person having "practitioner membership" or "retired membership" in NAPP (“Practitioner”), who has agreed to participate in NAPP’s Mentor Program as either a Mentor or a Mentee.

WHEREAS, NAPP is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) membership association whose mission is, in part, to provide networking and collegial exchange, so patent practitioners can flourish and achieve the highest levels of competence and professionalism in their practice;

WHEREAS, NAPP offers the NAPP Mentor Program as a benefit to Mentors and Mentees and not for NAPP’s profit;

WHEREAS, the purpose of the NAPP Mentor Program is to aid practitioners, especially less experienced ones, to improve their skills in patent application work, and to promote the highest ideals in patent practice;

WHEREAS, NAPP plans to pair Mentors and Mentees but will not oversee, guarantee, or control the counsel or guidance given by Mentors to Mentees; and

WHEREAS, Mentors are volunteers intending to assist Mentees as a charitable endeavor;

THEREFORE, in consideration for NAPP providing the NAPP Mentor Program, approving Practitioner for participation therein, and pairing Practitioner with either a Mentor or a Mentee thereunder, NAPP and Practitioner hereby understand and agree that:

1. With respect to any claim, loss, demand, suit, liability, cost, expense, offset, cause of action, defense, counterclaim, damage, or judgment, known or unknown, arising from or related to Practitioner's participation in the NAPP Mentor Program (“Matters”), Practitioner hereby (a) waives, discharges, and releases any and all Matters that could otherwise be asserted by Practitioner, (b) if Practitioner is a Mentee, indemnifies, holds harmless, and agrees to defend NAPP (including its officers, directors, volunteers, employees, and contractors) against any and all Matters asserted by any third party, including any client of Practitioner (“Client”), and (c) if Practitioner is a Mentee, indemnifies, holds harmless, and agrees to defend Mentor (including his or her partners, firm, employees, and employer) against any and all Matters asserted by any third party, including any Client. Practitioner understands that this Paragraph 1 applies to unknown or unanticipated Matters, as well as Matters known or anticipated, and thus knowingly waives any and all rights and protections under California Civil Code Section 1542, which says, “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party,” or any like provision in any other jurisdiction.
2. Practitioner understands that Mentor will be providing counsel and guidance to Mentee and that Mentee might utilize such counsel or guidance in connection with representing Mentee’s Client. Participation in the NAPP Mentor Program does not reduce in any way Mentee’s obligations to Client, including ethical obligations to provide competent legal advice and representation and to maintain Client confidences, and Mentor is not acting as attorney or agent for Client (except in limited situations) or for Mentee. In recognition thereof, Practitioner understands and agrees:
3. Mentor shall take care to provide counsel only in areas of expertise or on subjects or practice areas on which Mentor is qualified to provide counsel. The provisions of Paragraph 1 above apply to counsel or guidance provided by Mentor to Mentee even if outside Mentor’s areas of expertise or qualification.
4. Mentee may consider counsel and guidance from Mentor to the extent Mentee believes appropriate and shall not rely exclusively on any counsel or guidance from Mentor, whether such counsel is inside or outside Mentor’s areas of expertise or qualification. Mentee remains obliged to check, investigate, or verify any counsel or guidance provided by Mentor before utilizing such to advise Client or for the benefit of Client. Mentee knowingly accepts the risk that counsel or guidance provided by Mentor may be wholly or partly incorrect or inapplicable. In discussions with Client, Mentee shall present advice to Client as Mentee’s professional opinion and specifically shall refrain from attributing the counsel or guidance provided by Mentee to Client as advice of Mentor.
5. To the fullest extent possible, Mentee will pose questions to Mentor by presenting questions in the form of hypotheticals or general questions, by removing Client names and identifying information from documents shown to Mentor, or by seeking counsel in any way that does not identify Client or disclose confidential information of Client.
6. In some instances, Mentee may wish to disclose confidential information of Client or obtain counsel from Mentor specific to a particular Client. In such instances, Mentee shall – in advance of disclosure – first ask Client for permission to involve Mentor in a limited capacity, and second (if Client agrees) ask Mentor whether he or she is willing to counsel Mentee in that capacity. If both Client and Mentor agree, Mentee and Mentor shall cooperate to verify the absence of any conflict of interest by Mentor, and Mentee shall secure from Client a written acknowledgement that Client's practitioner-client relationship is solely with Mentee. Thereafter, Mentor may counsel Mentee with respect to Client’s matter, but Mentor shall not advise Client directly. If Mentor and Mentee agree that Mentor should advise Client directly, then they should establish an appropriate co-counsel agreement separately, and such advice shall not be within the scope of the NAPP Mentor Program.
7. In the situation described in Subparagraph 2(d), or in any other situation where Mentor provides counsel or guidance to Mentee under the NAPP Mentor Program with respect to a specific Client matter such that Client confidential information becomes known to Mentor, Mentor shall be deemed to have formed a limited-purpose practitioner-client relationship with Client for the sole purpose of evaluating disclosed Client confidential information and counseling and guiding Mentee subject to this Agreement, and Mentor shall maintain the confidentiality of such disclosed Client confidential information.
8. The provisions of Paragraph 1 above include but are not limited to requiring Mentee to indemnify and defend NAPP and Mentor against any lawsuit, including for malpractice, brought by Client arising from Mentee’s representation of Client.
9. Mentor will not charge Mentee, NAPP, or Client for Mentor’s counsel and guidance under the NAPP Mentor Program.
10. If Practitioner ceases to qualify as a Registered USPTO Practitioner in good standing, is sanctioned, disbarred, or suspended as a result of discipline by USPTO or any bar association, or ceases to be a NAPP Practitioner Member in good standing, Practitioner shall promptly notify both NAPP and the person paired with Practitioner, and thereafter Practitioner shall no longer be considered participating in the NAPP Mentor Program.
11. Practitioner shall disclose to NAPP upon request, and authorizes NAPP to disclose to the person paired with Practitioner, (a) whether Practitioner carries professional liability insurance, and (b) if so the name of any professional liability insurance provider and the coverage limits. If NAPP makes such a request, Practitioner shall also disclose to NAPP, without need for any further request, any change to coverage or insurance provider.
12. Practitioner shall follow NAPP rules and policies related to the NAPP Mentor Program, including those enacted after the date of this Agreement.
13. The following general provisions shall apply to this Agreement:
14. NAPP’s drafting of this Agreement or insistence on its use shall not constitute grounds for interpreting any provision of this Agreement in favor of Practitioner or against NAPP.
15. In the event of any controversy, claim, or dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement (“Dispute”), unless the Dispute includes a Client of Mentee as a party, (i) the formation, interpretation, performance, termination, and discharge of this Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia without reference to its rules of conflicts of laws, (ii) exclusive jurisdiction of the Dispute is vested in the state and federal courts sitting in Alexandria, Virginia, (iii) the parties to the Dispute consent to jurisdiction and venue over the Dispute in such federal and state courts, and (iv) a prevailing party in the Dispute shall be entitled to recover from the losing party that prevailing party’s costs, expense, and reasonable attorneys’ fees, as set by a judge and not by a jury.
16. Any provision of this Agreement that may be invalid or unenforceable under any applicable law or governmental regulation shall be omitted, narrowed, or modified as necessary to make this Agreement valid and enforceable but shall not invalidate the remaining provisions of this Agreement.
17. No mod­i­fication or amendment to this Agreement­ shall be val­id or bind­ing unless re­duced to wri­ting and duly exe­cuted by the party or parties to be bound.
18. The person to which Practitioner is paired, any person or entity indemnified under Paragraph 1 above, and any Client for which guidance is provided to Mentee by Mentor under the NAPP Mentor Program shall be third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement.

NAPP: The Board of NAPP has approved this Agreement, and it shall be deemed accepted by the then-serving NAPP president on the date of signature by Practitioner.

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