Description:

The Work
We prosecute patents at the frontier: machine learning and AI systems, cryptography and data compression, satellite and communications technology, and other advanced software-driven fields. Our clients are building things that do not have established playbooks — which means our practitioners cannot just document inventions. They have to understand them deeply enough to contribute meaningfully to strategy.

Our clients are established technology businesses with substantial, actively growing patent portfolios — companies that treat patent IP as a strategic asset, not a checkbox. We have almost no one-off individual inventor clients. That means your work here is sustained and portfolio-level: long-term client relationships, sophisticated technical teams, and strategy that compounds over years rather than one-and-done filings.

In this role, you will work in partnership with the firm's founder and our clients and their teams to identify patentable innovation they may not have recognized yet, develop portfolio strategy alongside the technology roadmap, and prepare and prosecute applications at the USPTO. If you enjoy helping inventors recognize protectable innovation they had not yet identified, you will likely thrive here.

About the Firm:
We are a nineteen-year-old boutique patent practice, virtual from day one — and we have grown every single year of those nineteen years. That growth has been 100% organic: no advertising, no purchased leads — just repeat clients, referrals, and word-of-mouth recommendations. Our clients bring us with them as they leave companies, build and sell companies, and start new ones. That is what happens when clients see their patent counsel as a partner in innovation rather than a vendor — and it is why the work here is steady and the pipeline keeps compounding.

Seven practitioners trained here now practice patent law independently or in close association with the firm. Developing skilled, autonomous patent professionals is not a side effect of how we work; it is the model. You will have direct, frequent access to the firm's founder for training, strategy, and mentorship, with a clear path toward increasingly independent practice.

Who We're Looking for:

Minimum 5 years of hands-on patent preparation and prosecution experience at the USPTO
Active USPTO Registration # required; patent agents are welcome. Attorney candidates should have a J.D. and active state bar membership in at least one state.
Degree in physics, computer science, computer engineering, machine learning, AI, electrical engineering, or a similar science or engineering field
Strong working fluency in software, machine learning/AI, and emerging technologies - you can hold your own in a technical conversation with an ML engineer
Exceptional technical writing and analytical skills
An inventor's mindset: curiosity about how things work and an instinct for where the innovation actually lives

The Arrangement
This is an ongoing independent contractor engagement expected to support a full-time workload, with flexibility in how and when the work is performed. The engagement will support the firm's existing client base and may be structured as a monthly retainer, overflow work, or a combination, with a guaranteed monthly minimum so your income floor is predictable from day one. Target annualized starting compensation is $150k/year, commensurate with experience.

This is not a salaried position with benefits. In exchange, you get:

Genuine autonomy. No billable-hour quotas, no commute, and a work structure designed for autonomy rather than bureaucracy. Set your own schedule; we ask only that you remain responsive to clients and available for collaboration during core business hours as needed.
Fully remote, permanently. Not a pandemic accommodation — this practice has been virtual for nineteen years.
Real support. Training, administrative support, docketing, and frequent direct contact with the founder and other legal team members for questions, teaching, and strategy.
A long-term professional path. Our track record of developing independent practitioners speaks for itself.

How to Apply:
Send your resume along with a short note — a paragraph is fine — describing a patent, application, or invention you are genuinely proud of, and why. Each application will be reviewed carefully.