Assistant General Counsel - IP

Bayer•Chesterfield, MO

8d•$168,560 - $252,840•Onsite

About The Position

The Assistant General Counsel - IP supports inventors and managers in all IP and licensing matters for the divisions they support. They work with the Senior patent counsels to deliver timely and professional advice on IP assets at the respective companies, supporting the companies' business interests, minimizing potential liability claims by third parties and collaborating with the responsible units to ensure the conformity of the companies' IP operations and transactions with statutory provisions, regulations and directives.

Requirements

Juris doctorate (JD)
Excellent command of US patent law, evidenced by registration with the USPTO
Knowledge of business administration
Ability to draft and evaluate IP-related agreements, especially license agreements
Experience in project management

Nice To Haves

Science degree, normally MS or PhD
Ability to early identify conflicts of interests between organizational units both within and beyond the companies supported and to integrate and coordinate any divergent IP objectives, taking into account legal requirements
Ability to promote mutual decision-making despite such conflicts of interest
Ability to convince decision-makers in the organizational units, contractual partners, patent offices and courts using objective arguments as part of appropriate negotiating strategies
Ability to explain complex legal and technical issues understandably to clients
Ability to conduct negotiations and coordinate agreements in line with their functional responsibilities in an international context together with decision-makers from other companies
Ability to develop IP strategies in order to protect new or existing products based on an open analysis of the relevant circumstances
Ability to draft patent landscape reports
Ability to independently implement and track KPIs and targets to optimize the IPR portfolio
Ability to independently evaluate company and third-party IP portfolios, especially in the context of mergers and acquisitions
Ability to prioritize work independently and on their own responsibility when working on multiple projects with tight deadlines
Ability to conduct correspondence with third parties independently and on their own responsibility as per signature authorization

Responsibilities

Drafting patent applications together with inventors and filing them with patent offices
Tracking granting procedures, including checking and responding to patent reviews and appealing patent rejections
Initiating opposition or annulment proceedings against competitors' patents
Defending the companies' patents against opposition or annulment proceedings by competitors
Preparing expert opinions ("patent landscape reports") on the possible obstruction of planned products and their use, and proceedings resulting from competitors' patents
Patent infringement proceedings
Advice on IP strategy and its implementation
Drafting of agreements (confidentiality/non-disclosure, cooperation and license agreements), participation in contract negotiations