Closing Date: 14th October, 2026
Description:
Summary:The Office of the Solicitor acts as litigation counsel for the USPTO on intellectual property law matters and also works in collaboration with the Department of Commerce on interagency intellectual property law matters. The incumbent will have opportunities to brief and argue cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as well as manage and participate in litigation in other federal courts. The work is challenging, and the atmosphere is professional and collegial.
Duties:
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.
This position is located in the Office of General the Counsel, Office of the Solicitor.
As a Lead Attorney on a particular case or policy matter, this rewarding opportunity is the ideal next career step for you if:
- You are eager to defend decisions of the Director and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in federal district and appellate courts.
- You thrive in preparing and filing amicus briefs on behalf of the Director on issues of importance to the development of trademark law.
- You are committed to coordinating with the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice to assist the Solicitor General in intellectual property cases before the United States Supreme Court.
- You're excited about managing all aspects of litigations and appeals, including case strategy, motions practice, oral arguments, written discovery, depositions, and trial.
- You thrive providing legal and policy advice to senior management and other offices within the Agency on trademark, copyright, ethics and disciplinary matters, including rulemaking, procedures, and proposed legislation.
- You are confident handling trademark clearance and enforcement matters.
- You are eager to assist the Deputy General Counsel and the Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline in prosecuting practitioners charged with misconduct before an Administrative Judge (and, if necessary, defending those decisions in federal court).
Requirements:
Conditions of Employment:
- Applicants will only be accepted from United States Citizens and Nationals.
- Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related competencies.
- You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
- Required to pass a background investigation and fingerprint check.
- Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov) Suitable for Federal employment.
- If selected, you may be required to complete a two-year trial period.
- You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.
- This position requires the completion of OF-450 Financial Disclosure.
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 one full year (52 weeks) at 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/legal experience as listed below:
Specialized experience for this position includes:
- Experience drafting pleadings, briefs, and/or legal opinions in the area of trademark law; and
- Experience conducting legal research and drafting written work product analyzing complex and difficult legal, factual, or policy issues in the area of trademark law.
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 having experience including judicial clerkship(s), in the area of Trademark litigation. Trademark litigation includes federal district court trademark cases, trademark appeals to the U.S. federal courts of appeal, and trial proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
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.
Education:
You must possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree or Master of Laws (L.L.M) degree from an American Bar Association accredited law school and an active member of the Bar in Good Standing of any State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any Territorial Court under the U.S. Constitution.
If this position requires proof of higher education, or you are substituting education for experience, you must submit an unofficial transcript or a list of courses that includes the following information: name of accredited institution, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. Please refer to General Schedule Qualification Policies (http://www.opm.gov/) for more information. You are not required to submit official documents at this time; copies are sufficient.
Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - US Department of Education (http://www.ed.gov/). Another listing of services that can perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) (http://www.naces.org/) website. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.
Note: Only education and experience acquired before the filing deadline will be considered. Report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Additional Information:
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 (http://www.sss.gov/) website for more information.
This is a Non Bargaining Unit position.
If selected for this position, you may be required to complete the Fair Credit Act Memo, which gives consent so that one or more consumer credit reports may be obtained for employment purposes.
This is a Public Trust position and has a risk level designation of "HIGH".
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.
Financial disclosure statement (OGE Form 450) is required for this position. For more information please visit www.OGE.gov.
The USPTO participates in E-Verify. For more information on E-Verify, please visit the Department of Homeland Security Website. (https://www.e-verify.gov/)<
