Hybrid Patent Prosecution Legal Assistant – Hybrid

at Merchant & Gould P.C.

• Job title: Patent Prosecution Legal Assistant – Hybrid
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Mid level, Senior
• Salary: $65,000 - $85,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Location requirements: Hybrid, Atlanta, United States

About the role

• Patent Prosecution Legal Assistant in a leading intellectual property law firm. Supporting attorneys with client management and U.S. patent application processes.

Responsibilities

• Provides client management support for attorney, not limited to written and verbal communications with clients along with maintaining docket and client specific procedures.
• Assists attorney in prosecuting patent applications in the United States and various foreign countries.
• Establishes and maintains patent files: opens files, prepares documents for filing including, patent applications, Preliminary Amendments, Information Disclosure Statements, Responses to Missing Parts, Assignments, Amendments, payments of Issue Fees, etc.
• Reviews all incoming correspondence from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and foreign associates for essential docketing.
• Maintain clients’ portfolios by being proactive in facilitating communication between attorney and client.
• Maintains and updates docketing log spreadsheet.
• On-going verbal and written communication with attorneys, clients and foreign associates.
• Other administrative tasks and projects as may be assigned.

Requirements

• BA degree and/or paralegal certificate or minimum of 5 years experience in U.S. patent prosecution.
• Familiarity with electronic case management systems and USPTO rules and requirements. IPFolio, Memotech, etc. is a plus.
• Familiarity with the prosecution of U.S. Trademark applications a plus.
• Ability to work comfortably with advanced computer software (after training) and effectively use and maintain a computer database.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook) required.
• Possible use of speech-to-text transcription software.
• Ability to work independently and meet critical deadlines under supervision of attorney.
• Ability to organize and prioritize numerous tasks and complete them under time constraints.
• Ability to concentrate on detailed work for up to 80% of work day.
• Interpersonal skills necessary in order to communicate and follow instructions from a diverse group, including clients, attorneys and others, and to provide information with ordinary courtesy and tact.
• High level of responsibility, dedication and accuracy required.
• Work on rare occasions requires more than 37.5 hours per week to perform essential duties of the job; may occasionally require irregular hours.
• Regular attendance at work.

Benefits

• competitive salary
• comprehensive benefits package that includes employee medical, dental, vision, life, AD&D insurance, short- and long-term disability, 401(k) match, and ten firm holidays