Letters To The MIT Community

To the members of the MIT community,
 
I am pleased to share the news of an exciting collaboration designed to help MIT student inventors and entrepreneurs get their enterprises off to a flying start. Through a new joint program with Boston University School of Law, BU will establish two law clinics to help MIT and BU students answer the legal questions they face as innovators:

• The Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property Clinic will open later this month.
• The Technology and Cyberlaw Clinic will follow and is expected to open no later than Fall 2016.

Nationally known for its outstanding intellectual property program, the BU School of Law prides itself on a commitment to real-world, hands-on learning in a spirit very familiar to us at MIT. The clinics will provide independent legal counsel, free of charge, on a broad range of topics related to entrepreneurship and innovation, including entity formation and financing, intellectual property, contracts, data security and cyber law. Our students will have access to both clinics -- to be staffed by BU law students under the oversight of experienced BU law faculty -- at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship on the MIT campus.
 
By providing our students with the legal guidance to navigate the complexities of starting or running a business, the clinics will give them the freedom and confidence to focus on what they do best: creating innovative ideas, technologies and companies.
 
At MIT, we believe in our students' potential to change the world, and we want to equip them with the tools to make an impact. These clinics will provide our students with an important new resource for pursuing their dreams and aspirations.
 
Sincerely,
 
L. Rafael Reif