Patent Prosecution Legal Assistant

Merchant & Gould P.C.

Patent Prosecution Legal Assistant providing client management support and document preparation in a leading intellectual property law firm. Requires 5+ years experience in U.S.

Posted 7/11/2026full-timeAlexandria • Virginia • 🇺🇸 United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $70,000 - $95,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

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

What you’ll need

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.
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

Comp & perks

a competitive salary
a 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

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

Patent Application PreparationInformation Disclosure StatementsResponses to Missing PartsAssignmentsAmendmentsIssue Fee PaymentsU.S. Trademark Application ProsecutionDatabase Management

Soft Skills

Interpersonal SkillsOrganizational SkillsTime ManagementAttention to Detail

Certifications

Paralegal Certificate