Patent Attorney/IP Counsel

💼 About the role

At PQShield, we are passionate about innovation.  As an IP company developing post quantum cryptography hardware IP and software, we are uniquely positioned to invent and bring groundbreaking inventions to market with immediate use cases across the world.

Despite being only five years old, PQShield already has a significant patent portfolio, which has been achieved through the following:

• We operate in a cutting edge space, where only limited work has been done in the past.
• We have our own in-house Research Team, who are looking at completely new concepts and algorithms, as well as our Product and Engineering Teams which are able to implement them.
• Post-quantum cryptography is a very specific area where specialist knowledge is required – as such we have a number of PhD graduates in our company.
• We have a people focussed culture which encourages and rewards innovation – one of our values is ‘Be Open Minded’.

As the scale of our IP portfolio grows, we seek a highly skilled and motivated Patent Attorney to bring IP protection in-house.  The successful candidate will be working closely with the Research, Product and Engineering Teams to help identify inventions that would be suitable for patenting.  They will also be responsible for our patent and IP protection strategy, run the patent application process and advise on and implement processes for protecting our IP in general.  The ideal candidate will be a UK, European or US qualified patent attorney with a technical background and familiarity with hardware IP, security software or cryptography.

⚒️ What you’ll be doing

• Owning our patent strategy:
  • Carrying out searches and analysis to help understand the value of our inventions.
  • Advising on which inventions should be patented in which territories, based on perceived value and search results.
  • Managing our patent portfolio of patents and the reporting process.
• Owning the Patent Application & Filing Process:
  • Preparing and filing our patent applications.
  • Responding to office actions, attending hearings, and advocating for the granting of patents.
  • Managing and working with external firms for support on international filings and other specialist topics.
• Collaboration on Innovation:
  • Working closely with our Engineering and Product teams to understand our innovation streams and to understand which concepts are suitable to patent.
  • Sharing knowledge within the company and providing training on the value and importance of patents and IP protection.
• Defence & Enforcement:
  • Being ready to defend the company against any threats of infringement.
  • Advising on and managing any enforcement action against other parties that could be infringing upon our IP.
• General IP Protection:
  • Advising on and implementing measures to protect IP that is not patented, such as our trade secrets.
  • Ensuring that we have sufficient IP provisions in new contracts, licence agreements and NDAs.
  • Managing our trademark applications and processes.

🎯 Required Skills And Qualifications

• Minimum education:
  • A degree in a STEM subject.
  • A relevant legal qualification.
• Experience:
  • 5+ years of experience as a UK or European or US Qualified Patent Attorney.
  • Experience working with patents related to hardware IP, security software or cryptography.
  • Experience with the patent process in the UK, EU and US.
  • Strong technical expertise.
• Soft Skills:
  • Strong attention to detail and commitment to quality.
  • Effective communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Ability to work collaboratively in a team-oriented environment.

 🏆Some of the perks of working with us:

• A competitive compensation package.
• Share options.
• A remote first company. You will work from home most of the time, but will need to join us in the office for planning sessions and key meetings as required.
• Travel for customer meetings and marketing events as needed.
• Health insurance.
• Generous PTO and holiday package.
• Company contributions towards 401K.
• …and other great benefits.

If you enjoy working as part of a technology company, value the security of our daily digital lives, and love solving hard problems – then we’d love to hear from you.

PQShield is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We’re passionate about talent and proud to foster an inclusive environment; all applicants will be considered regardless of their gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and age.