Patent Attorney

The deadline to apply for this position is July 5, 2016.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been serving the economic interests of America for more than 200 years. We are responsible for granting US intellectual property rights for patents and trademarks. Our efforts have provided inventors exclusive rights over their discoveries. It's an effort that continues to contribute to a strong global economy, to encourage investment in innovation and to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit for the 21st century. The USPTO is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and has over 12,000 employees, including engineers, scientists, attorneys, analysts, IT specialists, etc. all dedicated to accomplishing the USPTO’s mission, vision, strategic goals and guiding principles. For more information about the USPTO, please visit the USPTO Careers Website.

This position serves as a Judicial Law Clerk and is located in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), Office of the Under Secretary & Director (U/DIR), United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The PTAB is responsible for conducting trial proceedings established under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) (Public Law 112-29; Sept 16, 2011) including inter partes review proceedings, post-grant review proceedings, covered business method review proceedings, and derivation proceedings.

The PTAB is also responsible for hearing and deciding appeals from adverse decisions of examiners concerning applications for patents; conducting interference proceedings; and making final determinations of questions of priority and patentability.

The Judicial Law Clerk will be responsible for assisting Administrative Patent Judges in the following: adjudicating inter partes review proceedings, post-grant review proceedings, covered business method review proceedings, and derivation proceedings; addressing appeals from adverse decisions of Examiners regarding patent applications, reissue applications, and reexamination requests; conducting interference proceedings; and other projects critical to the Board's mission.

Duties

• -- Researches and writes tasks to assist the Administrative Patent Judges in the disposition of cases from the various jurisdictions of the Board, including assisting in the preparation of decisions on appeal, decisions to institute inter partes review, post-grant review, covered business method review, and derivation proceedings, declarations of interference, orders, decisions on motions, final written decisions, and judgments.
• -- In relation to America Invents Act (“AIA”) trial proceedings, assists Administrative Patent Judges in reviewing and analyzing all papers filed by parties, including petitions to institute, patent owner preliminary responses to petitions, motions, oppositions, replies to motions, and evidence entered into the record (including discovery disputes related to such evidence), to identify all relevant factual and legal issues relied upon in making the ultimate determinations on patentability and derivation.
• -- Assists Administrative Patent Judges in comprehensively reviewing and analyzing appeal briefs, answers, reply briefs, and evidence of record in each appeal to identify all relevant factual and legal issues raised by patent applicants, patent owners, and/or third party requesters en route to ultimate adjudication of the appeal.
• -- Assists Administrative Patent Judges in comprehensively reviewing and analyzing applications and patents involved in potential interferences, substantive and miscellaneous motions, responsive motions, oppositions and replies to motions filed by the parties, and evidence entered into the record in interference proceedings, to identify all relevant factual and legal issues en route to the ultimate determinations on patentability and priority.
• -- Researches statutes, legislative history, relevant case law, applicable USPTO rules, regulations, standards, and procedures, as needed to analyze issues and points of law for particular matters or germane to the Board’s overall mission; prepares written work product including legal memoranda, bench briefs, orders, and decisions and assist in proofreading orders and decisions, verifying citations, and ensuring procedural requirements; and assists with docket management, scheduling and conducting of conference calls, and scheduling of filing due dates and time periods with the parties.

Job Requirements

-- You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.

-- You must possess a Law Degree.

-- You must possess an active bar membership of any state prior to start date.

Qualifications

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM Website.

To be qualified, you must:

-- Be a United States citizen or National

-- Possess a Law Degree from an ABA accredited law school; and

-- Be an "active" member of the Bar in Good Standing of any State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any Territorial Court under the U.S. Constitution prior to start date.

If selected, these qualifications, including active bar membership, must be maintained throughout the period of employment. Applicants must possess the following educational requirements:

(A) To meet minimum eligibility requirements for this position, applicants must possess a bachelor's degree in the study of engineering, chemistry, or biology from an accredited undergraduate college or university.

For an engineering degree, the curriculum must:

1. Be accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; OR

2. Include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas:

a) statics, dynamics

b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships)

c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics

d) thermodynamics

e) electrical fields and circuits

f) nature and properties of materials (relating to particle and aggregate structure to properties)

g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics or electronics

OR

(B) A combination of Education and Experience. This combination of college level education, training and/or technical experience must have furnished both:

• A thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional engineering; AND

• A good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their application to professional engineering. This can be demonstrated by one of the following:

1. Professional registration-- Current registration as a professional engineer by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam or Puerto Rico.

2. Written test-- Evidence of passing the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination or the written test required for professional registration, administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in various States, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico.

3. Specified academic courses-- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours in the physical, mathematical and engineering sciences and including the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described in paragraph A.

4. Related curriculum-- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., physics, chemistry, biology, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of an Engineering degree, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience with professional engineering supervision and guidance.

AND

(C) Conferred law degree from an ABA accredited college or university (minimum: J.D. or equivalent).

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