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Deputy Chief Administrative Trademark Judge

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

Summary

The Deputy Chief Administrative Trademark Judge (Deputy CATJ) serves as a full voting member of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (Board) as provided by Title 15 U.S.C. § 6, and exercises full administrative, legal, and technical authority over the Board, as supervised by the Chief Administrative Trademark Judge (CATJ). The Deputy CATJ also is responsible for working with the Chief Judge to develop and deploy the strategic and policy initiatives of the Board, as needs may be identified by the Board or as strategic initiatives may be required by the Office of the Under Secretary and Director of the USPTO, to which the Board reports.

The Office of Human Resources strongly encourages applicants applying for positions to read the vacancy announcement in its entirety before submitting application materials for this position. If you have any questions or concerns about the application procedure or processes, please contact the individual listed under 'Contact Information.' Failure to follow instructions in the announcement will result in your application not receiving consideration.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
12/15/2017 to 01/31/2018
Salary
$124,406 to - $187,000 per year
Pay scale & grade
ES 00
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Alexandria, VA
1 vacancy
Travel Required
Occasional travel - There may be occasional travel.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent - Full Time
Work schedule
Full-time - Permanent
Service
Promotion potential
00
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Announcement number
TTAB-2018-0003
Control number
485695800

This job is open to

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Duties

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THIS VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN EXTENDED FROM THE ORIGINAL CLOSING DATE OF TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018 TO WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018.

The Deputy Chief ATJ will serve as part of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board along with the Under Secretary and Director, Deputy Director, Chief ATJ, Commissioners of Patents and Trademarks, along with Administrative Trademark Judges. Any three of the previous listed employees can consist of a legal panel of the Board to render a decision in a trademark appeal or an opposition, cancellation, concurrent use or interference proceeding.

The Deputy CATJ is also responsible for the following:

  • Working with the CATJ to develop and deploy the strategic and policy initiatives of the Board, as needs may be identified by the Board or as strategic initiatives may be required by the Office of the Under Secretary and Director of the USPTO, to which the Board reports.
  • Developing and implementing the USPTO’s rules of practice governing trademark appeals and trademark opposition, cancellation, and concurrent use proceedings.
  • Developing and implementing the Standard Operating Procedures necessary for the internal operation of the Board. Furthermore, the CATJ is responsible, by delegation, for adjudicating certain petitions to the Director of the USPTO; which responsibility may be further delegated to and shared with the Deputy CATJ, Board Senior Level attorney, or individual ATJs.
  • Serving under the administrative direction of the CATJ who reports to the Office of the Under Secretary and Director of the USPTO. The Deputy CATJ is also responsible for the comprehensive executive management, strategic planning, policy development, and financial functions essential to effective Board operations.
  • Assigning panels of administrative trademark judges to adjudicate all trademark appeals and trademark opposition, cancellation, concurrent use and interference proceedings and periodically serves on such panels. The CATJ and Deputy CATJ also develops and maintains quality, timeliness, and productivity performance standards for the administrative trademark judges, attorneys and support staff. The Deputy CATJ serves as the Acting Chief Administrative Trademark Judge during the absence of the CATJ and serves on a variety of USPTO's enterprise-level committees.
  • Interacting with the legal community, including the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, bar associations, etc.; actively participates in public conferences and meetings; and makes presentations to foreign dignitaries or officials regarding the Board and its operations.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • You must address the PTQs in narrative form.
  • You must address the ECQs in narrative form.
  • You must have a Law Degree from an accredited law school.
  • You must be a current member of the U.S. Bar.

Additionally, the Deputy Chief Judge must be a member in good standing of the Bar of any state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any territorial court under the Constitution. Furthermore, the Deputy Chief Judge must possess significant work experience in the field of trademark law and management.

Qualifications

Each response to the Professional Technical Qualifications (PTQs) & Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) must include a narrative summary of the applicant's executive experience in relation to the PTQs & ECQs and specific examples of accomplishments. Failure to address each qualification factor will have an adverse impact upon your ranking.

The Professional Technical Qualifications (PTQs) for this position are:

  1. Expert knowledge of the legal principles and technical subject matter associated with trademark appeals and trial proceedings. Demonstrated ability to understand technical subject matter; apply relevant trademark law legal principles; and effectively work with diverse groups of individuals, to resolve complex technical and legal issues.
  2. Demonstrated executive level experience in directing, supervising, and evaluating the activities of a professional, technical, and legal organizational unit. Demonstrated ability to develop and achieve organizational goals; prepare and execute organizational budgets; delegate assignments; motivate subordinate groups and individuals; establish and execute programs to implement policies; and establish and maintain a positive working environment.
  3. Executive level experience in effectively communicating orally and in writing regarding complex technical and legal issues; the ability to fully comprehend the complex technical and legal issues discussed in a work group; the ability to lead said work group(s); and the demonstrated experience to effectively interact with the legal community and other internal and external stakeholders.
The Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) for this position are:

1. Leading Change - This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.

2. Leading People - This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide a teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.

3. Results Driven - This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems and calculating risks.

4. Business Acumen - This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial and information resources strategically.

5. Building Coalitions- This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals.

NOTE: If you are selected for the position you may be required to submit Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) to the Office of Personnel Management to be approved before you can be placed into the position. More Information regarding the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) can be found here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/reference-materials/guidetosesquals_2012.pdf

If you are a current or previous OPM approved SES you do not have to address the Executive Core Qualification questions in your application package. Please submit an SF-50 showing your SES Status within your application package.

SES Designation This position is classified as Career Reserved because it is necessary to restrict appointment to career employees in order to ensure the public’s confidence in the impartiality of the Government.

Education

Due to the complexity of this position, the Deputy Chief Administrative Trademark Judge must possess a law degree.

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 a Non Bargaining Unit position.

This is a Public Trust position and has a risk level designation of "high".

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 http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1185221678150.shtm

Probationary Period- If selected, you may be required to complete an initial one-year probationary period.

Mobility: Organizational and geographical mobility is essential in developing and managing SES leaders and generally is a key to advancement. Therefore, applicants are expected to be mobile and once appointed SES members may be reassigned at the discretion of the appointing authority.

Before entering on duty, you will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-278. You will need to provide the information annually.

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

Relocation expenses and or Recruitment incentives will not be authorized.

Federal agencies, including the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. USPTO Job Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should request accommodation(s) from the USPTO at https://uspto.entellitrak.com. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. 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 USPTOs Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity via email (oeeod@uspto.gov) or phone (571-272-8292).

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

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 responses to job specific self-assessment questions including the Professional Technical Qualifications (PTQs) and Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) questions. Applicants must clearly demonstrate in their application materials that they possess technical attributes in the Professional/Technical Qualifications (PTQs). In addition, applicants must clearly demonstrate that they possess the leadership attributes in the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs). Please note that the PTQs and ECQs must be addressed individually and in narrative form.

You will be evaluated on the quality and extent of your total accomplishments, experience, and education. Your application will be evaluated by a rating and ranking panel, and highly qualified candidates will be submitted to the Selecting Official for further review and consideration.
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