The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) is a national bar association comprised of lawyers employed in private and corporate practice, government service, and in the academic community. Their membership includes roughly 16,000 people.

The AIPLA was formed in 1897 to sustain an elevated standard of professional ethics, to assist in the improvement of laws relating to intellectual property, to aid in the proper interpretation of intellectual property laws by the courts, and to provide legal education to the public and the members of the organization on intellectual property issues.

Located in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington D.C., the AIPLA has a staff of 20 and is headed by an executive director. AIPLA has 45 different administrative and substantive committees which educate the organization’s members and provide proposals to the Board of directors on policies the association should adopt.

To become a member of AIPLA, an applicant must be a member in good standing of the Bar of a court of record in the United States or any State which makes up part of the United States. Foreign members must be allowed to practice in a court of general jurisdiction in their home country. The AIPLA has student memberships available as well. These are available to people currently enrolled in a law school that has been approved by the Association of American Law Schools. Memberships are also available to patent agents who are registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

AIPLA members are expected to attend the three yearly meetings. There is one in mid-winter, one in the spring, and a third in the fall. These meetings offer educational seminars on the latest developments in intellectual property law. There are also stand-alone seminars throughout the year.