Engineering Patent Agent

Job Overview: A law firm in San Francisco, CA, is seeking an experienced and detail-oriented Engineering Patent Agent to play a crucial role in evaluating the patentability of innovations and managing the patent application process. The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in electrical or mechanical engineering, demonstrate proficiency in patent prosecution, and exhibit excellent organizational and communication skills.

Job Details:

• Evaluate the patentability of innovations and invention disclosures.
• Prepare, draft, and file patent applications.
• Draft responses to domestic and foreign Office Actions.
• Conduct research and analysis, providing guidance on patent and Intellectual Property-related issues.
• Perform prior art database searches for patentability and freedom to operate analyses.
• Prepare draft amendments to patent claims, specifications, and abstracts.
• Assist patent attorneys with the global prosecution of complex patent families.

Requirements:

• Minimum of 2 years of experience drafting original patent applications and prosecuting pending applications in the electrical and mechanical arts.
• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, or equivalent technical experience.
• An advanced degree is preferred.
• Candidates currently licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as an agent are strongly preferred.
• Consideration is given to candidates with extensive experience planning to take the Patent Bar.
• Familiarity with Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) practice is preferred.
• Proficiency in Windows operating systems and Microsoft Office Suite or related software.

Skills and Qualities:

• Excellent academic credentials and references.
• Ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Ability to prioritize and manage time effectively, handling multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills, both oral and written.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced environment with a strong attention to detail.

Job Location: San Francisco, CA

Although this large, dynamic San Francisco-based firm is best known for its outstanding litigation practice, which covers very high-profile commercial matters involving intellectual property, employment, securities, secured transactions, antitrust, banking, professional malpractice, and products liability, it also has very solid corporate and bankruptcy practices. The firm enjoys an excellent reputation in San Francisco and sets an extraordinarily high standard for the quality of its work. By all accounts, the firms attorneys are a unique and diverse group; according to a candidate that interviewed here recently, everyone had a really interesting, well-rounded personality. The firms attorneys possess exceptional academic and professional credentials; many are former federal judicial clerks, including several former Supreme Court clerks.