Patent Attorney

Invisix; Eindhoven; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Invisix is seeking its first dedicated Patent Attorney to build and own the IP protection strategy from the ground up. You will translate engineers' ideas into defensible IP, guide filings with external counsel, and ensure freedom to operate.

You'll report to the CEO and regularly collaborate with senior leadership, hardware and software teams, shaping strategy and execution as the IP function grows.

Qualifications

• PhD in physics or closely related field.
• Strong technical background in hardware and software contexts.
• Confident communicator with leadership, engineers and external counsel.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage Invisix's patent portfolio.
• Assess patentability of ideas and prioritize for patenting or trade secret.
• Coordinate filing with external patent attorneys and maintain high standards.
• Safeguard freedom to operate by identifying gaps and closing them.
• Develop understanding of licensed IP and monitor sector activity.
• Collaborate with engineers to identify patentable ideas and guide them through the process.

Job description

About Invisix

Semiconductor manufacturers can't build what they can't measure. Invisix Measuring Systems is a fast-growing scale-up in the high-tech industry, developing next-generation metrology solutions for the semiconductor sector. We work at the intersection of optics, software, and data.
We're a small team, but the depth of knowledge inside Invisix is anything but small. Our culture is professional and fast-paced, with short communication lines and a strong sense of shared purpose. Everyone here is committed, and everyone knows their work directly contributes to something bigger.

The Role

As our first dedicated Patent Attorney, you will build and own Invisix's IP protection strategy from the ground up. You decide what deserves to be patented, guide our inventions through the patenting process, and make sure our freedom to operate is never in question. You will work closely with our engineers and scientists, translate their ideas into defensible IP, and manage the external patent attorneys who draft and file on our behalf.

This is a role for someone with a strong technical background who made the switch into IP law and is equally comfortable discussing hardware and software with our engineers as negotiating with outside counsel. A great opportunity to own this process and have the possibility to build strategy and execution.

You will report directly to our CEO, with frequent interaction with other members of the senior leadership team.

What You'll Do

• Own and manage Invisix's growing patent portfolio.
• Assess the patentability of new ideas submitted by our hardware and software teams and prioritize them. Identify when ideas should be published, or made a trade secret, instead of being patented.
• Run the patent filing process together with our external consultants and hold them to a high standard.
• Safeguard our freedom to operate by identifying gaps in our patent portfolio and organize brainstorms to help close them.
• Develop an excellent overview and understanding of our licensed IP.
• Stay up to date on patent activity in our sector and the IP position of our competitors
• Meet regularly with engineers to understand what they are working on, explore new hardware and software ideas, encourage them to flag ideas worth patenting, and check them against existing patents.
• Identify generalizations of the ideas submitted by engineers to broaden claim scope and strength.
• Design an efficient internal process and guide ideas through that process: from a first quick first assessment via various steps to filing of new patents and the maintenance of our existing patent portfolio
• Set up a lightweight training so engineers know how to spot a patentable idea and understand the basics of IP risk.
• Support commercial and leadership conversations. Partnerships, supplier or customer contracts, investor due diligence. Wherever IP questions come up.

Is This You?

• A qualified patent attorney with a strong technical background.
• A PhD in physics (or a closely related technical field) to be able to properly judge the ideas that cross your desk.
• A confident communicator who's equally comfortable with leadership, engineers, inventors, and external counsel.
• Someone who can make a fast, sound first call on an invention, then knows when to dig deeper.
• A facilitator by nature: you make the process run, without needing to be the centre of it.
• Curious and proactive with a strong desire to understand the technology we work on. You spot patentable ideas in our existing technology before anyone flags them for you.

Your First Weeks and Months

• Set up the entire patenting process from end to end, from intake to filing.
• Build relationships with our external patent attorneys and other outside parties.
• Immerse yourself in our technology and our extensive existing patent portfolio.
• Meet the team: get to know your colleagues across the company so you understand where the real opportunities and challenges lie.

What We Offer

• A full-time role (40 hours/week) with real ownership over how we build our IP protection function.
• A competitive salary that reflects your specialized legal and technical background.
• The chance to shape Invisix's IP strategy from scratch, reporting directly to our CEO.
• A professional, fast-paced scale-up culture built around a shared sense of purpose.

Diversity & Inclusion

We're committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace, where ideas and individuals flourish. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and judge candidates on merit and potential contribution, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, or other identity characteristics. What we're looking for is talent with integrity, a collaborative mindset, and a drive to make an impact.

Your Data

Your application data is processed by Invisix and kept in our applicant tracking system so we can consider you for this role and future opportunities. See our privacy policy for details: invisix.com/privacybeleid