Patent Attorney

U.S. Department of Commerce; Alexandria (VA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

The Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) within the USPTO coordinates attorney and agent registration, patent registration exams, investigations of misconduct, and outreach to support the Patents and Trademarks business units.

To qualify at GS-14 you must have three years post-J.D. professional experience; GS-15 requires four years. Specialized experience includes prosecuting post-AIA patent cases, interpreting statutes, developing sound legal decisions with broad impact.

Qualifications

• Specialized experience must be equivalent to the next lower grade level with one full year (52 weeks) of professional law experience.
• GS-14 requires three (3) years post J.D. of professional legal experience.
• GS-15 requires four (4) years post J.D. of professional legal experience.

Responsibilities

• Specialized experience includes prosecuting post-AIA patent cases, interpreting statutes, regulations, and other legal documents for legal sufficiency; and developing sound legal decisions and recommendations involving complex legal issues.

Job description

As part of its challenging, multi-faceted mission, the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) is responsible for (a) registering attorneys and agents to practice patent law before the USPTO, (b) developing and administering the patent registration exam, (c) investigating allegations of misconduct by practitioners, (d) overseeing USPTO programs, (e) supporting Patents and Trademarks business units regarding anti-fraud initiatives, (f) federal administrative rulemaking, and (g) outreach. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has not issued qualification standards for attorney positions. However, the USPTO sets minimum qualifications for attorney positions and sets forth these qualifications in each vacancy announcement. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement.

Specialized Experience is experience that has equipped applicants with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, you must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level in the Federal service.

To qualify at the GS-14 grade level, you must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the federal service.

Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Experience prosecuting post-AIA patent cases and handling legal matters, preparing and trying cases, interpreting statutes, regulations, and other legal documents for legal sufficiency, and developing sound legal decisions and recommendations involving complex legal issues.

To qualify at the GS-15 grade level, you must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 grade level in the federal service.

Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Experience prosecuting substantial post-AIA patent cases as well as handling complex legal problems, preparing and trying cases, making statutory interpretations, preparing legal documents, reviewing documents for legal sufficiency, developing sound legal decisions and recommendations in the field in which little or no legal precedent has been established.

AND

In addition to the specialized experience listed above, you must have:

GS-14: Three (3) years post J.D. of the professional legal experience listed below.

GS-15: Four (4) years post J.D. of the professional legal experience listed below.

Professional Law/legal experience, post J.D. is defined as:

Professional legal/law experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position to be filled. Legal work is described as extremely complex and difficult and requires a high order of original and creative legal endeavour in balancing conflicting interests; has broad or wide-scope impact on an economy, industry, private or public interests; and may involve directly or indirectly very large sums of money. Work may also involve acting as principal attorney in charge of the preparation and presentation of cases; recommending policies and developing procedures and regulations to implement new or amended legislation; and acting as legal, general or senior counsel to a major firm or organization.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.