What is this role? 

The IP Paralegal will serve as the lead coordinator of Cirkul’s Intellectual Property portfolio. This role will work directly with Cirkul’s Chief IP Counsel and General Counsel, as well as, outside counsel and IP service providers to meet critical deadlines and ensure Cirkul’s intellectual property rights are timely pursued and maintained. 

What does an average day look like?

Driving Results: 

• Gather internal information to support maintenance and procurement of patent and trademark rights.
• Assist in legal review of marketing content for compliance with legal internal guidelines.
• Conduct preliminary trademark clearance searches using TESS, WIPO, and other public and private trademark resources to conduct clearance searches. 
• Create and generate reports as necessary and work with internal and external counsel in support of program activities and goals.

Taking Ownership: 

• Assist in preparation and execution of documents in support of patent and trademark application filings and prosecution.
• Preparing various reports for internal and external use, which may require assembling information from multiple sources and presenting data in a usable format.
• Track IP expenses, facilitate cost planning and forecasting with external legal service providers and run budget reports and cost projections to help ensure business can accurately budget for IP expenses.

Making Decisions: 

• Oversee patent and trademark correspondence from outside law firms and coordinate decisions needed from business and in-house legal team and internal business stakeholders.

Cultivating Relationships: 

• Work with inhouse legal team to support implementation and maintenance of an internal matter management system and docket for intellectual property.
• Coordinate with internal and external counsel, engineers and project management to facilitate the review of innovation and capture of patentable intellectual property.

Instilling Trust: 

• Proactively monitor patent and trademark dockets to ensure patent and trademarks deadlines are met. 
• Support inhouse and outside counsel in enforcement-related activities related to brand misuse and patent/trademark infringement. 
• Support freedom to operate and competitive patent research

Customer Focus: 

• Support and guide brand and customer experience teams regarding trademark, brand and product marketing and labeling related questions.
• Respond to internal and external requests for information regarding our trademark use, ownership and/or registration.
• Fulfill other administrative duties and special projects as assigned. 

What background should you have? 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience. 
• Paralegal Certificate of completion from an ABA (American Bar Association) case of study. 
• 7+ years of intellectual property paralegal experience, preferably in a global corporate legal setting for a company in the consumer products or food and beverage space, or in a law firm supporting clients in the same space. 
• Knowledge and understanding of state of the art IP docketing processes and systems.
• Familiar with Convention and Non-Convention US and non-US patent filing and prosecution formalities.
• Understanding of USPTO rules and practices, including M.P.E.P., e-Office Action, use of public/private PAIR and other online USPTO resources
• Familiar with US and international trademark filing and prosecution formalities. 
• Proficiency with online public and private patent and trademark searching resources.
• A strong work ethic and sense of responsibility, reliability, and responsiveness.
• Self-direction and ability to work independently.
• The ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and workloads to meet deadlines, while delivering high-quality work.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint) and Google required; experience with AI assisted contract management platforms preferred
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.