IP Prosecution Specialist

Description

IP Prosecution Specialist | 1+ Year Patent and/or Trademark Prosecution Experience 

Full-Time | Washington, DC | Primarily On-Site | $30–$50/hour + Overtime Eligible 

There are people who complete tasks. 

And then there are people who make sure things actually get done. 

You know the difference. 

You're the person who notices the missing attachment. The instruction that doesn't quite match the record. The follow-up that hasn't happened. The deadline that's getting a little too close for comfort. 

You don't assume someone else has it. 

You check. 

You ask. 

You follow through. 

And when someone eventually circles back to ask about it, there is a very good chance your answer is: 

“Already handled it.” 

If you've spent at least a year working in patent or trademark prosecution and recognize yourself in that description, we'd like to meet you. 

Welcome to Hylton-Rodic Law 

Hylton-Rodic Law is a growing boutique intellectual property law firm serving biotechnology, pharmaceutical, university, and other innovative clients. 

Our team helps protect technologies at the frontiers of medicine, science, and innovation. The work is sophisticated. The details matter. And the people behind the work matter too. 

We're deliberately building the kind of law firm where high standards and being good humans can coexist. 

That means serious work without unnecessary bureaucracy. Close collaboration instead of disappearing into a giant organization. Real professional development. Meaningful responsibility. Colleagues who know one another. And room for talented people to grow beyond the box they were originally hired into. 

We're looking for an IP Prosecution Specialist who already has a foundation in patent or trademark prosecution and wants to build something on top of it. 

Maybe you've been doing this for a year. 

Maybe you've been doing it for five—or longer. 

We're less interested in counting the years than in discovering what you've done with them—and how good you want to become. 

What You'll Actually Do 

As an IP Prosecution Specialist, you'll work closely with our patent attorneys and Legal Support team to move U.S. and international patent prosecution matters from instruction through accurate, timely, closed-loop completion. 

You'll: 

• Prepare and coordinate U.S., PCT, and foreign patent filings and prosecution documents; 
• Prepare Information Disclosure Statements (IDSs), declarations, assignments, powers of attorney, and other prosecution formalities; 
• Execute client and foreign-associate reporting workflows; 
• Coordinate correspondence and follow-up with attorneys, clients, foreign associates, and the USPTO; 
• Support patent prosecution, maintenance, and post-filing workflows; 
• Maintain complete and accurate electronic matter files and prosecution records; 
• Work closely with our Docket team to ensure deadlines, instructions, filings, reporting, and matter information remain synchronized; 
• Spot inconsistencies, missing information, and potential problems before they become bigger problems; 
• Follow matters through completion instead of assuming that completing one step means the work is finished; and 
• Help us continue improving the systems, SOPs, checklists, and workflows behind excellent client service. 

You won't be expected to know every HRL workflow on Day 1. 

You will be expected to learn. 

We Can Teach You Our Systems. We're Looking for the Rest. 

One or more years of IP prosecution experience gets your résumé into the conversation. 

It doesn't tell us whether you're exceptional. 

We're looking for the things that are harder to see on paper. 

You have an internal motor. 

You don't need someone constantly pushing or chasing you. You like accomplishing things. You want to understand what you're doing and become genuinely good at it. 

You catch things. 

Details aren't an annoying part of the job. They're part of what makes you good at it. 

When something doesn't look right, you don't simply push it forward. 

You stop. You investigate. You verify. 

You own the outcome. 

You know there is a difference between: 

“I did my part.” 

and 

“It's done.” 

You care about the second one. 

You learn—and we can tell. 

You don't just memorize a checklist. 

You recognize patterns. You apply what you've learned to the next situation. And when someone takes the time to teach or correct you, they shouldn't have to keep teaching you the same lesson. 

You can take feedback. 

Nobody here knows everything. 

We don't expect perfection. We do expect humility, responsiveness to feedback, and the ability to get better. 

You know initiative isn't the same thing as guessing. 

You don't need permission for every tiny decision. 

But you also don't freelance when you're outside your authority or expertise. 

You know when to move, when to ask, and when to escalate. 

You make the people around you better. 

You understand legal support as a professional discipline. 

You anticipate. You communicate. You solve problems. You make it easier for attorneys and colleagues to deliver excellent work. 

High standards. Low ego. 

That's our kind of person. 

Already in Trademarks? Keep Reading. 

Your experience does not have to be exclusively—or even primarily—in patents. 

If you've spent at least a year working in trademark prosecution, we're interested. 

You already understand some of the hardest parts of IP support: deadlines matter. Details matter. Records matter. Instructions matter. Communication matters. Follow-through matters. 

We can teach patent-specific workflows. 

If you're bright, meticulous, hungry to learn, and ready to expand your IP skill set, don't talk yourself out of applying because your current experience happens to say “trademark.” 

Requirements

What You Should Bring 

We're looking for: 

• At least 1 year of hands-on patent and/or trademark prosecution experience in a law firm, corporate legal department, university technology-transfer office, or similar professional environment; 
• Experience working with IP deadlines, filings, correspondence, formalities, records, or related prosecution workflows; 
• Excellent written communication; 
• Strong organization and time-management skills; 
• Exceptional attention to detail; 
• Comfort managing multiple active matters and commitments; 
• Sound judgment about when to act, ask, verify, or escalate; 
• Strong Microsoft Office skills; and 
• A bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience. 

Experience with U.S. patent prosecution, PCT and foreign filings, IDSs, USPTO formalities, AppColl or another IP docketing platform, or sophisticated life-sciences portfolios is a plus. 

But here's something we've learned: 

Experience is valuable. Experience is not the same thing as competence. 

We'll look at both. 

Come Here to Get Better 

We take professional development seriously. 

Really seriously. 

We've invested heavily in the infrastructure to teach people how excellent IP prosecution support is actually done: written SOPs, workflow guides, checklists, video training, examples, hands-on instruction, and review while you're developing competency. 

But training is only valuable if you do something with it. 

You'll receive feedback. You'll be expected to ask questions. You'll be challenged. And you'll be expected to apply what you learn. 

As you consistently demonstrate accuracy, judgment, ownership, and reliability, you'll take on increasingly sophisticated work with increasing independence. 

Around here, autonomy isn't something you have to fight for. 

You earn it—and then we want you to use it. 

Competence + judgment + ownership ? trust ? autonomy. 

Our goal isn't to hover over talented people. 

It's to help talented people become exceptionally good—and then give them room to run. 

Yes, We Actually Like Working Together. 

HRL is primarily an in-person firm. 

That's intentional. 

There is something different about being able to walk down the hall and ask a question. Learn by watching someone work through a problem. Pull a colleague into a conversation. Brainstorm together. Laugh together. Grab lunch. And actually know the people you spend your working day with. 

We like that. 

And our office isn't a glass corporate tower or a maze of identical cubicles. 

We work from a colorful row house in Adams Morgan, one of Washington, DC's liveliest neighborhoods, complete with a private garden patio when you need a little sunshine, fresh air, or a change of scenery during the workday. 

It's professional without feeling corporate. 

It's a place people actually come to work together. 

We also know flexibility matters. That's why we've deliberately built flexibility and real time away from work into the HRL experience—with floating remote days, meaningful PTO, mental-health days, birthday leave, Sunshine Fridays, and an extended year-end holiday break. 

We like being together. 

We also like having lives. 

Work Hard. Get Really Good at What You Do. Then Go Have a Life. 

We don't use “work-life balance” as shorthand for low expectations. 

Our standards are high. 

We expect people to meet commitments, communicate early, own mistakes, learn quickly, help one another, and produce excellent work. 

And we believe people who do those things deserve a workplace that respects the rest of their lives. 

Our benefits include: 

• Health, dental, and vision insurance; 
• 401(k) with matching; 
• Commuter benefits; 
• Paid time off; 
• Floating remote days; 
• Mental-health days; 
• Employee Assistance Program; 
• Celebratory birthday leave; 
• Sunshine Fridays; and 
• An extended holiday break from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day. 

Yes, we really close the office. 

This Job Isn't for Everybody. 

Good. 

We're not looking for everybody. 

This probably isn't the right role if you want autonomy simply because you've been working in IP for a certain number of years. 

It probably isn't right if “that's not my job” is a phrase you reach for quickly. 

Or if you consider your responsibility finished when your individual piece has been completed—even though the outcome is still hanging somewhere in space. 

Or if detailed feedback feels like interference rather than an opportunity to get better. 

Or if you're looking at a boutique law firm because you're hoping smaller means lower expectations. 

It doesn't. 

But if you want to work with smart people, learn, contribute, be trusted, do sophisticated work, and become increasingly valuable as your capabilities grow? 

You may have just found your people. 

Compensation 

$30.00–$50.00 per hour, non-exempt and overtime eligible. 

Compensation within the range will reflect demonstrated prosecution experience, technical proficiency, and the level of responsibility you're prepared to assume. 

Yes, We Want a Cover Letter.  

We're asking you to put a little more into your application than clicking Apply. 

That's intentional. 

We're investing seriously in the person we hire, and we'd like you to be serious about choosing us too. 

Tell us why you're here. 

We don't need a formal cover letter that simply walks us through your résumé. 

We've got your résumé for that. 

Instead, please use your cover letter to answer three questions: 

1. Why are you considering a change at this point in your career? 

2. What about this particular opportunity at Hylton-Rodic Law caught your attention? 

3. Tell us about a time you caught something others had missed, took ownership of a problem, or followed something through that might otherwise have fallen through the cracks. What did you notice, what did you do, and what happened? 

Your cover letter doesn't need to be long. 

It doesn't need to sound like a law-school admissions essay. 

And it certainly doesn't need to tell us that you're “uniquely qualified for this exciting opportunity.” 

Use whatever tools help you put your best foot forward. 

Just make sure we can still hear you in it. 

Still Reading? 

Good. 

You may be exactly the kind of person we hoped would make it this far. 

If you're looking for another IP support job, there are plenty of them. 

But if you're looking for a place where experience is valued, learning is expected, feedback is normal, ownership matters, excellent work gets noticed, and trust grows with demonstrated capability, we'd really like to hear from you. 

Apply. 

Your next job could just be another job. 

Or it could be the place where you get really, really good at what you do. 

Hylton-Rodic Law PLLC