IP Legal Secretary

Description A national law firm is seeking an IP Legal Assistant, with a focus on patent prosecution (prior experience in this practice area is a must-have). This firm boasts a 7.5 hour work day, beautiful renovated office with snacks, and we have placed 5 legal assistants here in the last two years - all are super happy Responsibilities of Role: u00a7 Preparing and filing new patent (and occasional trademark) applications and associated documents (application data sheets, inventor declarations, powers of attorney, information disclosure statements, preliminary amendments, office action responses, and appeals) with the USPTO u00b7 Ensure all three elements of the patent application is correct (such as claims set) u00b7 Current volume of filings is anywhere from 5 per day to less than 1 u00a7 Creating shells for attorneys (such as for office action responses) u00a7 Docketing u2013 the department exists in Phoenix, but this person will do backup calendaring for attorneys in Outlook or Excel (and reminding them of deadlines) u00a7 Searching IP databases (such as the USPTO, TEAS, TARR, WIPO, and foreign patent offices u2013 like Japan, Australia, Canada, and the EU). u00b7 Software: Anaqua, NetDocs, inTapp, iTimekeeper, CPi, AMS, Adobe (bate stamping/labeling, signatures, page numbers). They are paperless. Soft Skills: o Ability to multitask and jump from one thing to another. o Extremely high attention to detail. Should be able to catch if the partner misses a detail such as inventor name/filing deadline. o Someone who takes direction well. Ideally, theyu2019d say, u201cIu2019ve done this before, but how does your team do it?u201d Must have a learner mentality. o Someone who is not a social butterfly, but is drama free o Someone who is not on their phone during the workday. Perks of Firm: u00b7 The IP attorneys are approachable, polite, and a congenial group. u00b7 The Sr. legal assistant in the IP group, is a great trainer and has been with the firm for 22 years. Sheu2019s been doing IP for 30. Many staff have strong tenure u00b7 High level of respect for staff, no micromanaging, no drama. u00b7 Firm prioritizes pro bono work, and partner closely with nonprofits. u00b7 The firm administrator offers 1:1 career coaching. Requirements 3+ years of patent prosecution experience, specifically: 1. Knowledge of how to file a patent application with the USPTO a. US filing experience is a must; foreign/EPCT filing experience is nice-to-have 2. Knowledge of how to docket/cross reference due dates within IP law. 3. Ability to pivot multiple projects in a day, not easily frazzled. To apply, send your resume directly to Melanie.Kent[at]RobertHalf[dotcom] with

Created: 2026-02-02