Senior Counsel For Intellectual Property (IP) Legal Services

Senior Counsel For Intellectual Property Legal Services

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking a Senior Counsel who will perform a variety of complex and sensitive assignments relating to patent and trademark disciplinary matters that affect the livelihood of patent attorneys and agents throughout the United States and abroad.

Responsibilities include:

• Applying rigorous scientific, technical, and legal standards to ensure that registered patent practitioners have the requisite knowledge to provide valuable services to the American public and prevent bad actors from defrauding American businesses and independent inventors.
• Serving as the liaison with other USPTO business units regarding enrollment and IP legal services.
• Representing the USPTO and the Office of Enrollment and Discipline before various committees and public and private sector groups to gain support and acceptance of OED programs and provide educational outreach as a proactive measure to protect the public by ensuring practitioners are aware of proper ethical standards.
• Adjudicating registration applications and petitions having highly complex factual or legal issues.
• Developing the nationwide examination which is given to candidates who wish to be registered to practice before the USPTO.
• Coordinating IP legal service efforts.
• Assisting and advising in enrollment proceedings.

Requirements include:

To meet the minimum requirements for a Senior Level position, candidates must be a recognized subject matter expert with directly related experience. Typically, experience of this nature will have been gained at the GS-15 or equivalent level in the federal service or its equivalent in the private sector. Candidates must demonstrate their experience meets the Professional Technical Qualifications (PTQs) for this position in their two-page resume and this experience must have been at a sufficiently high level of difficulty to clearly show the candidate possesses the required subject matter expertise and technical qualifications set forth below.

Professional Technical Qualifications (PTQs):

• Experience in prosecuting and/or examining patent cases, and knowledge of policies affecting patent prosecution and examination.
• Ability to effectively advise on enrollment matters involving the Office of Enrollment and Discipline.

Education:

• Must have successfully completed a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) or Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from an accredited educational institution.
• Must have a current active bar membership from any State, territory, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, District of Columbia, or Federal Court.
• Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.