Categories and Criteria

ACPC has three categories of membership: Regular, Subsidiary/Business Unit, and Emeritus (Tier 1 and Tier 2). All membership applications must be reviewed and approved by the ACPC Executive Committee.

Prospective members must meet the criteria listed below:

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REGULAR MEMBER

Professionally qualified in the patent profession
Shall occupy the position of General Patent Counsel (or equivalent), Co-Counsel in the event of no General Patent Counsel, or Head (or equivalent) of a Patent Department
Be a full-time employee of
a) a corporation organized under the laws of the United States or
b) a public corporation organized under the laws of the country other than the United States and whose stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ or any US Equivalent stock exchange
Holds one or more patents for purposes of the operation of the business of the corporation
Able to attend ACPC meetings on a regular basis
Payment of annual dues
Only one individual from a corporation can be a Regular member of ACPC at any given time

*Only member with voting rights

Annual Fee: $1,200

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SUBSIDIARY/BUSINESS UNIT MEMBER (Non-Voting Member)

Subsidiary: In the event that person would be otherwise eligible to be a Regular Member but for the corporation employer being a subsidiary of another corporation which has an existing Regular member, such person will be eligible for membership as a Subsidiary member provided that there is no direct or indirect reporting relationship between the Subsidiary member and the parent corporation’s Regular Member.
Business Unit: If a corporation with an existing Regular Member has multiple business units, the Regular Member may nominate a subordinate employee for Business Unit membership if that employee holds this role of General Patent Counsel (or equivalent) of Head (or equivalent) of a Patent Department for a business unit of the Regular Member’s corporation.
Able to attend ACPC meetings on a regular basis
Payment of annual dues

Annual Fee: $1,200

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EMERITUS (Non-Voting Member)

Former Regular, Subsidiary or Business Unit member who is no longer qualified for Regular, Subsidiary or Business Unit membership
Able to attend ACPC meetings on a regular basis
Payment of annual dues

Tier I Annual Fee: $800
Companies/organizations with 24 or fewer total employees (inclusive of attorneys, paralegals, agents, assistants, sole practitioners, etc.)

Tier II Annual Fee: $1,200
Companies/organizations with 25+ total employees (inclusive of attorneys, paralegals, agents, assistants, sole practitioners, etc.)

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RETIRED MEMBER (Non-Voting Member)

A former Regular, Subsidiary, Business Unit or Emeritus member in good standing who no longer receives income from employment.
Retired members are not required to pay dues
Invited to attend meetings at the Regular member registration rate.

No Annual Fee

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