Description
Represent clients before the USPTO, PTAB, and courts to secure, enforce, and defend patent rights; draft and prosecute patent applications; and advise on IP strategy, transactions, and risk. May focus on specific technologies or manage global patent portfolios across industries.
- • Advise clients on patentability, infringement risk, portfolio strategy, and IP rights and obligations.
- • Interpret patent statutes, USPTO rules, MPEP guidance, and case law for inventors and businesses.
- • Conduct invention disclosure meetings and translate innovations into patentable subject matter.
- • Draft, file, and prosecute U.S. and PCT patent applications, including claims, specifications, and drawings.
- • Prepare and file responses to Office Actions, amendments, RCEs, and appeals.
- • Conduct and analyze prior art, landscape, and freedom-to-operate searches.
- • Prepare opinions on patentability, validity, enforceability, and noninfringement.
- • Represent clients before the USPTO, PTAB, and in federal courts on patent matters.
- • Develop litigation strategies, including claim construction, invalidity, and infringement arguments.
- • Present technical and legal arguments in hearings, depositions, and trials.
- • Evaluate the merits of filing or defending patent lawsuits, IPRs, PGRs, or reexaminations.
- • Manage domestic and international prosecution strategies with foreign associates.
- • Draft and negotiate IP-related agreements, including licenses, NDAs, assignments, and joint development agreements.
- • Negotiate settlements and cross-licenses to resolve patent disputes.
- • Prepare briefs, petitions, and appellate filings for PTAB and the Federal Circuit.
- • Analyze patent portfolios and chain of title; record assignments and maintain IP records.
- • Supervise and mentor patent agents, paralegals, and technical specialists.
- • Maintain prosecution dockets, budgets, and client reporting; ensure deadline compliance.
- • Conduct IP due diligence for corporate transactions and technology acquisitions.
- • Collaborate with technical experts and engineers to gather evidence and support arguments.
- • Provide guidance on open-source, standards-essential patents, and regulatory impacts on IP.
- • Participate in policy advocacy or comment on proposed USPTO rules and IP legislation.
Related specializations
Interview options
Interview options
Interviewee gender
Interviewee accent
Available on paid plans only
Interview time
Related Pathways
Public Service & Safety
View
Source
Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
Learn more
Sources & Standards:
This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026