TRAVEL REQUIRED:

Occasional travel - 10% or less

RELOCATION AUTHORIZED:
Relocation expenses reimbursed No

KEY REQUIREMENTS:
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You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.

You must meet the definition of professional and specialized experience.

Required to pass a background investigation and fingerprint check.

Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov)

Confidential Financial Disclosure filing is required for this positon.

You must be a current member of the Bar in Good Standing of any state, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any U.S. territory.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has not issued qualification standards for Attorney positions. However, the agency sets minimum qualifications for Attorney positions and sets forth these qualification for each vacancy announcement. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement.

To be eligible for this position, you must:

1. Meet the following education requirements: possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree or Master of Laws (LL.M) degree from an American Bar Association accredited law school.
2. Suitable for Federal employment.
3. You must possess a degree in one of the scientific/engineering disciplines.

In addition to the eligibility requirement listed above, you must have:

For the GS 14: three (3) years post J.D. of the professional legal experience and one (1) year of specialized qualifying experience listed below.

For the GS 15: four (4) years post J.D. of the professional legal experience and one (1) year of specialized qualifying experience listed below.

AND

Professional legal experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position to be filled.  Legal work is described as extremely complex and difficult and requires a high order of original and creative legal endeavor in balancing conflicting interests; has broad or wide-scope impact on an economy, industry, private or public interests; and may involve directly or indirectly very large sums of money. Work may also involve acting as principal attorney in charge of the preparation and presentation of cases; recommending policies and developing procedures and regulations to implement new or amended legislation; and acting as legal, general or senior counsel to a major firm or organization.

Successful passing of the examination for registration to practice in patent matters before the United States Patent and Trademark Office is preferred, but not required.

AND

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE

Candidates for the GS-14 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower GS-13 grade level in the Federal service in the following:

Specialized experience at the GS-14 grade level is defined as substantial post-AIA patent prosecution experience as well as handling complex legal problems, preparing and trying cases, making statutory interpretations, preparing legal documents, reviewing documents for legal sufficiency, developing sound legal decisions and recommendations in the field in which little or no legal precedent has been established.

Candidates for the GS-15 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower GS-14 grade level in the Federal service in the following:

Specialized experience at the GS-15 grade level is defined as substantial post-AIA patent prosecution experience as well as independently handling complex legal problems, preparing and trying cases, making statutory interpretations, preparing legal documents, reviewing documents for legal sufficiency, developing sound legal decisions and recommendations in the field in which little or no legal precedent has been established.

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.

The minimum education requirement for this position is a conferred Juris Doctor (J.D.) or Masters of Laws (LL.M). from an accredited college or university.

For more information on degree requirements click here.

Applicants applying for this position must be a United States Citizen or National. 

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information.

This is a non bargaining unit position.

This is a Public Trust position and has a risk level designation of “high”. 

This position requires a Financial OF-450 Disclosure.  For more information on 450 filing, please visit:  https://www.oge.gov

If selected, you will be required to complete a initial two (2) year trial period.

Telework Eligibility is available as determined by agency policy.

Background Investigation - If selected for this position, you may be required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306), which includes a fingerprint and credit check, to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation.

The USPTO participates in E-Verify. For more information on E-Verify, please visit the Department of Homeland Security Website.

All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.

Relocation Expenses are not authorized and will not be paid.

Individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) will be eligible if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position. Information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Management’s Career Transition Resources website 

CTAP/ICTAP documentation requirements are listed in the ‘Required Documents’ section of this announcement.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement if additional identical vacancies in the same title, series, grade, and unit occur within 90 days from the date the certificate was issued.

All application materials become the property of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors.  If you believe that you have been discriminated against and would like to file an EEO complaint, you must do so within 45 days of the date of the alleged discriminatory act.  Claims of employment discrimination must be submitted to the attention of the USPTO’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity via email (oeeod@uspto.gov) or phone (571-272-8292). 

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You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your eligibility for consideration and qualifications for the position will be determined based upon a review of your detailed resume.

Please Note: Writing samples may be requested prior to being interviewed.

Your resume and any other supporting documentation will be evaluated by a Human Resources Specialist. Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for not hiring you.

Please note that a complete application is required for consideration. (Please review the “Required Documents” section of this job announcement to see what must be included in a complete application).

To preview questions please click here.

Read more Security clearance Other

Drug test required No