General Attorney

The Office of the Solicitor acts as legal counsel to the USPTO on intellectual property law matters and also works in collaboration with the Department of Commerce on interagency intellectual property law matters. The work is challenging, the atmosphere is professional, and the diverse attorneys enjoy a high quality of work life rarely found in the legal field.

Qualifications:

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. OPM Qualifications Standards are available at OPM Website.

Specialized Experienceis experience that has equipped applicants with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the federal service. For this position, the next lower grade level is a GS-14.

Qualified applicants should possess both specialized experience and professional law/legal experience as listed below:

Specialized experience for this position is defined as:

• Primary drafting responsibility for motions, briefs, and other litigation documents in the area of patent law or trademark law.
• Taking and defending depositions.
• Conducting hearings or trials before a judge or jury.

AND

Applicants must possess a minimum of four (4) years of professional law/legal experience, post J.D. as described below:

Professional Legal/Law Experience is defined as:

Experience in Intellectual Property (IP) litigation and/or judicial clerkship(s), in the area of Intellectual Property (IP). IP litigation includes patent or trademark litigation in federal district court, patent or trademark appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, proceedings before the USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) or Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Responsibilities:

This vacancy has been amended to extend the closing date to April 23, 2026.

The physical worksite for this position is located in Alexandria, Virginia. Presence at the Alexandria, VA campus is required for this role, as it includes on site functions that must be performed in person. Position may be eligible for situational telework in accordance with agency policy/business unit discretion. The agency currently allows for 52 hours of telework per calendar year.

This position is located in the Office of the General Counsel, Office of the Solicitor.

As an attorney on a particular case or policy matter, you will be responsible for analyzing legal and factual issues, developing the strategy to deal with these issues, and producing legal briefs, pleadings, or memoranda on such matters. In this role, you will typically deal with senior management officials for the Agency, other attorneys within the Office of the Solicitor, and individuals and entities outside of the Agency in representing the agency before federal district and appellate courts. This position will necessarily entail defending the agency in district court litigation. In particular, the applicant will work with the DOJ in district court patent litigation, including all aspects of discovery (e.g., propounding and responding to discovery requests, preparing experts and expert reports, filing and responding to discovery motions, preparing for and making court appearances, etc.) and filing and responding to other pretrial motions, preparing for and conducting trial, and handling any subsequent appeals. The applicant should be familiar with the USPTO's patent rules of practice and patent examination procedures.

In addition to defending decisions of the Director, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in federal district courts and appellate courts, you will potentially also be responsible for:

• Providing legal counsel to the USPTO Director on intellectual property matters.
• Preparing and filing amicus briefs on behalf of the Director on issues of importance to the development of patent or trademark law.
• Coordinating with the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to assist the Solicitor General in intellectual property cases before the United States Supreme Court.
• Representing the Director at depositions and testimony of USPTO employees.
• Conferring with legislative representatives on proposed legislation.
• Providing legal and policy advice on patent-related matters to senior management and other offices within the Agency.

Salary : $169,279