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Patent Attorney

Department of Commerce
Patent and Trademark Office
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Come work for the USPTO, we have been ranked as one of the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government®!

This vacancy has been amended to extend the closing date and add the following duty locations:

Denver, CO, San Jose, CA, Detroit, MI, Dallas, TX and Alexandria, VA

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 will be a Patent Attorney serving as a Law Clerk.

The Patent Attorney (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.

This position may be extended up to one additional year, not to exceed 2 years

If selected for this position, you will be required to serve an initial trial period.

The following links provide information on various hiring authorities.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
03/26/2018 to 04/26/2018
Salary
$73,756 to - $95,886 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Locations
Few vacancies in the following locations:
San Jose, CA
FEW vacancies
Denver, CO
FEW vacancies
Detroit, MI
FEW vacancies
Dallas, TX
FEW vacancies
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Temporary - Excepted Service, Temporary 1 year Appointment, Not to Exceed 2 years.
Work schedule
Full-time - This is a Full-Time, Temporary Appointment
Service
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Announcement number
PTAB-2018-0010
Control number
494983600

This job is open to

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Duties

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The Patent Attorney (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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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; assists with docket management, scheduling and conducting of conference calls, and scheduling of filing due dates and time periods with the parties; and assists with other projects critical to the Board’s mission.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • You must show proof of Law School graduation prior to hire date.
  • Obtain bar membership of any state within 14 months of hire date.
  • Required to pass a background investigation and fingerprint check.
  • Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov)
  • Suitable for Federal employment.

If selected, all qualifications must be maintained throughout the period of employment.

A Law transcript must be submitted with your application. Please ensure your law transcripts indicate the type of degree awarded and the date it was or will be awarded.

Failure to provide proof of graduation will result in termination from the position.

Failure to obtain bar membership within 14 months of hire will result in termination from the position.

Qualifications

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has not issued qualification standards for attorney positions.

USPTO sets minimum qualifications for attorney positions and sets forth these qualifications in each vacancy announcement.

In addition to the Bachelor's degree, education can be supported from 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.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - US Department of Education. Another listing of services that an perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

NOTE: Only education and experience acquired before the filing deadline will be considered. Report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Education

To meet minimum eligibility requirements for this position, applicants must:

(A) 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.

(C) Enrolled in a law degree program (minimum: J.D. or equivalent) from an accredited college or university with completion of degree being expected prior to start date.

Additional information

Applicants applying for this position must be a United States Citizen.

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information.

This is not a Bargaining Unit position.

This is a Public Trust position and has a risk level designation of “moderate”.

Background Investigation - If selected for this position, you may be required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306), which includes a fingerprint and credit check, to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation.

The USPTO participates in E-Verify. For more information on E-Verify, please visit the Department of Homeland Security Website.

If selected, you will be required to complete an initial trial period for the duration of your appointment.

All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.

Relocation Expenses are not authorized and will not be paid.

CTAP and ICTAP candidates will be eligible for selection priority if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a "well qualified" rating of 85 out of 100. Information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Management’s Career Transition Resources website at: http://www.opm.gov/ctap. CTAP/ICTAP documentation requirements are listed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement if additional identical vacancies in the same title, series, grade, and unit occur within 90 days from the date the certificate was issued.

All application materials become the property of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors. If you believe that you have been discriminated against and would like to file an EEO complaint, you must do so within 45 days of the date of the alleged discriminatory act. Claims of employment discrimination must be submitted to the attention of the USPTO’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity via email (oeeod@uspto.gov) or phone (571-272-8292).

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your eligibility for consideration and qualifications for the position will be determined based upon a review of your detailed resume and your supporting documentation.

Please note that a complete application is required for consideration. (Please review the “Required Documents” section of this job announcement to see what must be included in a complete application).
To preview questions please click here.

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