USPTO Hiring Clerks

The United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is hiring judicial law clerks!  Apply to start your career at America’s Innovation Agency   Deadline to apply is May 16, 2024    About the Program  The judicial law clerk program at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is designed for recent law school graduates and other attorneys early in their career who want to gain valuable experience in patent law. The program currently runs for a one-year term and is based at the USPTO’s headquarters in Alexandria, VA, starting around September 2025.  Judicial law clerks work directly with administrative patent judges (APJs) and aid them throughout their decision-making process. Assignments include assisting in adjudicating America Invents Act (AIA) trials such as inter partes review and post-grant review proceedings, helping write opinions in ex parte appeals from adverse decisions of examiners regarding patent applications, and conducting other research, as needed, to analyze the issues and matters germane to the PTAB’s overall mission.  The program further includes opportunities to work with other individuals at the PTAB and the USPTO on special projects and initiatives concerning patent laws, statutes, and USPTO policy. For example, some judicial law clerks have worked on a detail with the Director of the USPTO.  Who Should Apply, and Why?  The judicial law clerk program is ideal for attorneys who possess a strong interest in patent law. Because judicial law clerks work on ex parte appeals and AIA proceedings, anyone seeking to gain experience in prosecuting patent applications or litigating the patentability of an issued patents should consider applying to the program. Additionally, law students who will be recent graduates at the time the clerkship begins are encouraged to apply for the clerkship.  As USPTO team members, judicial law clerks can take advantage of working at a federal government agency with one of the nation’s highest job satisfaction ratings. Among other benefits, the clerkship provides great work-life balance while offering vast substantive experience in PTAB and USPTO practice. And, spending the one-year term in the Washington, D.C.-area makes it even easier for judicial law clerks to build a strong network in the heart of the patent world.   Application Requirements   To apply to be a PTAB judicial law clerk, you must:  Be a U.S. citizen and pass a background check Have a scientific or technical background sufficient to take the USPTO Registration Exam, known as the Patent Bar examination Hold a Juris Doctor or be on track to earn one before the clerkship start date The job opening is posted on USAJOBS, with a closing date of Thursday, May 16th, 2024. Clerkship will start in the fall of 2025.  The components of the application, which will be listed on the USAJOBS posting, typically include: a resume, transcripts (undergraduate, law school, and graduate, if applicable), an optional cover letter, and, a short narrative as to why you want to be a part of the program and what you want to learn from it.  If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the HR team at recruitment@uspto.gov. Also be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for additional tips and updates. For more information about the job requirements and the hiring process, please visit the PTAB judicial law clerk program’s page.