Patent Prosecution Legal Assistant

A national law firm is seeking a Patent Legal Assistant, with a focus on patent prosecution (prior experience in this practice area is a must-have), though some patent litigation work is available, too. This firm boasts a 7.5 hour work day, beautiful renovated office with snacks, and we have placed 5 legal assistants here in the last two years - all are super happy!

Responsibilities of Role:

§ Preparing and filing new patent (and occasional trademark) applications and associated documents (application data sheets, inventor declarations, powers of attorney, information disclosure statements, preliminary amendments, office action responses, and appeals) with the USPTO · Ensure all three elements of the patent application is correct (such as claims set). Filing daily! § Creating shells for attorneys (such as for office action responses) § Docketing – this person will do backup calendaring for attorneys in Outlook or Excel (and reminding them of deadlines) § Searching IP databases (such as the USPTO, TEAS, TARR, WIPO, and foreign patent offices – like Japan, Australia, Canada, and the EU). · Software: Anaqua, NetDocs, inTapp, iTimekeeper, CPi, AMS, Adobe.

Perks of Firm:

· Robert Half has placed 5 legal assistants here in the last 2 years. All are still there, happy, and thriving! · The IP attorneys are approachable, polite, and a congenial group. · The Sr. legal assistant in the IP group, is a great trainer and has been with the firm for 22 years. She’s been doing IP for 30. Many staff have strong tenure! · High level of respect for staff, no micromanaging, no drama. · Firm prioritizes pro bono work, and partner closely with nonprofits. · The firm administrator offers 1:1 career coaching.

Soft Skills:

o Ability to multitask and jump from one thing to another. o Extremely high attention to detail. Should be able to catch if the partner misses a detail such as inventor name/filing deadline. o Someone who takes direction well. Ideally, they’d say, “I’ve done this before, but how does your team do it?” Must have a learner mentality. o Someone who is not a social butterfly, but is drama free! o Someone who is not on their phone during the workday. It will not be tolerated. <-- if you know this is you, please do not apply o Someone who is punctual. Tardiness and lax attendance is not tolerated. <-- if you know this is you, please do not apply

3+ years of patent prosecution experience, specifically:

1. Knowledge of how to file a patent application with the USPTO <-- the firm cannot train on this, please don't apply without fluency! a. US filing experience is a must; foreign/EPCT filing experience is nice-to-have
2. Knowledge of how to docket/cross reference due dates within IP law.
3. Ability to pivot multiple projects in a day, not easily frazzled.

To apply, send your resume directly to Melanie.Kent[at]RobertHalf[dotcom] with "OC Patent Prosecution Legal Assistant" as the subject line.

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