What are the responsibilities and job description for the Patent Litigation Counsel position at TikTok?
Responsibilities
About the team:
We are seeking an experienced Patent Litigation Counsel to join our Global Legal team. This attorney will report to our Global Head of Patent Litigation and have primary responsibility for leading patent litigation matters end-to-end, managing active disputes through all stages of litigation with a high degree of independence and judgment. In addition to core patent litigation work, this role will support pre-litigation assessments, licensing matters, and other intellectual property disputes, including copyright and trade secret litigation, as business needs arise.
The ideal candidate is a highly capable, business-minded litigator with strong case management skills, a strategic mindset, sound judgment, and the ability to independently drive matters forward. This person should be comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving environment, partnering across legal and business functions, and developing a strong understanding of technical issues and product functionality.
Responsibilities:
- Lead patent litigation matters from inception through resolution, including case strategy, fact development, discovery coordination, motion practice, trial preparation, and overall matter execution.
- Serve as the primary legal lead on assigned matters, exercising independent judgment and driving strategy, priorities, and execution in partnership with outside counsel and internal stakeholders.
- Hire, direct, and manage outside counsel across all phases of litigation, including work product review, strategic guidance, budget oversight, and billing management.
- Independently manage multiple active matters at once and proactively oversee deadlines, milestones, risks, and deliverables across different stages of litigation.
- Partner with internal stakeholders to conduct factual investigations, identify relevant custodians and subject matter experts, and gather information relating to products, features, and technical functionality.
- Work closely with Product, Engineering, and R&D teams to identify, collect, and coordinate technical materials, including source code and related documentation, for U.S. litigation matters.
- Develop a strong understanding of relevant products, systems, and technical issues, and demonstrate a willingness to dig in and learn complex technology as needed to support effective case strategy.
- Work closely with internal legal and IP stakeholders on pre-litigation assessments, licensing analysis, and broader dispute strategy.
- Support a broader range of IP litigation matters, including copyright and trade secret disputes, as needed.
- Build trusted relationships across teams and navigate company processes, stakeholders, and decision-making structures effectively.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree and Juris Doctorate from an ABA accredited law school and qualified to practice law in the U.S.
- Significant experience managing patent litigation matters, including substantial hands-on responsibility for case management and strategic execution.
- Extensive relevant legal experience at a leading law firm and/or in-house.
- Demonstrated ability to independently lead litigation matters and work effectively with outside counsel on strategy, discovery, motion practice, and day-to-day execution.
- Ability to operate with a high degree of ownership, sound judgment, and limited oversight.
- Comfort working with technology-driven products and the ability and willingness to develop a deep understanding of technical issues.
- Excellent judgment and communication skills, with the ability to quickly synthesize complex facts and translate them for diverse audiences.
Preferred Qualifications:
- In-house experience at a technology company.
- Trial experience in patent litigation matters.
- Experience handling disputes involving software, platform, infrastructure, or other technology-driven products.
- Experience working effectively across global and cross-functional teams.
- Demonstrated ability to adapt quickly and thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Why Join Us
Inspiring creativity is at the core of TikTok's mission. Our innovative product is built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we work towards every day.
We strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and innovate as one team. We're resilient and embrace challenges as they come. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.
Diversity & Inclusion
TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.
TikTok Accommodation
TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at https://tinyurl.com/RA-request
Job Information
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually)
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $174000 - $313200 annually.
Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure).
The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.
For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.
About the team:
We are seeking an experienced Patent Litigation Counsel to join our Global Legal team. This attorney will report to our Global Head of Patent Litigation and have primary responsibility for leading patent litigation matters end-to-end, managing active disputes through all stages of litigation with a high degree of independence and judgment. In addition to core patent litigation work, this role will support pre-litigation assessments, licensing matters, and other intellectual property disputes, including copyright and trade secret litigation, as business needs arise.
The ideal candidate is a highly capable, business-minded litigator with strong case management skills, a strategic mindset, sound judgment, and the ability to independently drive matters forward. This person should be comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving environment, partnering across legal and business functions, and developing a strong understanding of technical issues and product functionality.
Responsibilities:
- Lead patent litigation matters from inception through resolution, including case strategy, fact development, discovery coordination, motion practice, trial preparation, and overall matter execution.
- Serve as the primary legal lead on assigned matters, exercising independent judgment and driving strategy, priorities, and execution in partnership with outside counsel and internal stakeholders.
- Hire, direct, and manage outside counsel across all phases of litigation, including work product review, strategic guidance, budget oversight, and billing management.
- Independently manage multiple active matters at once and proactively oversee deadlines, milestones, risks, and deliverables across different stages of litigation.
- Partner with internal stakeholders to conduct factual investigations, identify relevant custodians and subject matter experts, and gather information relating to products, features, and technical functionality.
- Work closely with Product, Engineering, and R&D teams to identify, collect, and coordinate technical materials, including source code and related documentation, for U.S. litigation matters.
- Develop a strong understanding of relevant products, systems, and technical issues, and demonstrate a willingness to dig in and learn complex technology as needed to support effective case strategy.
- Work closely with internal legal and IP stakeholders on pre-litigation assessments, licensing analysis, and broader dispute strategy.
- Support a broader range of IP litigation matters, including copyright and trade secret disputes, as needed.
- Build trusted relationships across teams and navigate company processes, stakeholders, and decision-making structures effectively.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree and Juris Doctorate from an ABA accredited law school and qualified to practice law in the U.S.
- Significant experience managing patent litigation matters, including substantial hands-on responsibility for case management and strategic execution.
- Extensive relevant legal experience at a leading law firm and/or in-house.
- Demonstrated ability to independently lead litigation matters and work effectively with outside counsel on strategy, discovery, motion practice, and day-to-day execution.
- Ability to operate with a high degree of ownership, sound judgment, and limited oversight.
- Comfort working with technology-driven products and the ability and willingness to develop a deep understanding of technical issues.
- Excellent judgment and communication skills, with the ability to quickly synthesize complex facts and translate them for diverse audiences.
Preferred Qualifications:
- In-house experience at a technology company.
- Trial experience in patent litigation matters.
- Experience handling disputes involving software, platform, infrastructure, or other technology-driven products.
- Experience working effectively across global and cross-functional teams.
- Demonstrated ability to adapt quickly and thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Why Join Us
Inspiring creativity is at the core of TikTok's mission. Our innovative product is built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we work towards every day.
We strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and innovate as one team. We're resilient and embrace challenges as they come. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.
Diversity & Inclusion
TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.
TikTok Accommodation
TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at https://tinyurl.com/RA-request
Job Information
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually)
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $174000 - $313200 annually.
Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure).
The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.
For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.
Salary : $174,000 - $313,200