Trademark Paralegal

About the job

Merchant & Gould, one of the nation's premier intellectual property law firms, is seeking a Trademark Paralegal. This position may be located in the following office locations (Minneapolis, Boston, Atlanta, New York, Alexandria,VA). The salary range for this position is $65,000 - 135,000, based on years of experience and geographical location.

Summary of position:      Assists in the preparation and filing of design and utility trademark applications in U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

In order to perform one (1) or more essential functions of this role, a minimum of three (3) days in the office is required.

Responsibilities:

1.       Establishes and maintains trademark files: opens files, prepares formal documents  for filing including, abstracts, drawings and preliminary amendments.

2.       Reviews all incoming correspondence from foreign associates for essential docketing and for non-substantive responses due in connection with filing of applications.

3.       On-going verbal and written communication with foreign associates and attorneys during filing and early prosecution of  U.S. Trademark applications.

4.       Maintains and updates docketing with respect to new filings and provides to guidance to others for further prosecution.

5.       Establishes and maintains good working relationship with attorneys and staff, but is not assigned to any single attorney.  Will work as a team member with other similar paralegals to establish back-up and workflow and will have joint responsibility for establishing quality control measures.

6.       Other tasks and projects as may be assigned.

Knowledge, skills and abilities required:

•         BA degree and paralegal certificate or equivalent experience with some relevant work experience or a minimum of 3 years on-the-job experience with U.S. trademark prosecution filing.

•         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 worktime.

•         Ability to work comfortable with advanced computer software (after training) and use effectively use and maintain a computer data base.  Possible use of  speech- to-text transcription of software.

•         Interpersonal skills necessary in order to communicate and follow instructions from a diverse group, including clients (usually in writing), attorneys and others, and to provide information with ordinary courtesy and tact.

•         Work occasionally requires a high level of mental effort and stress while organizing and maintaining multiple cases with the help of a computer data base.    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.

Merchant & Gould provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. We welcome candidates with disabilities. If you need any accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please contact our Human Resources Department at 1-612-332-5300.