Counsel, Intellectual Property

Zillow

1d•Remote

About The Position

Zillow Group’s Legal & Compliance team is looking for a Counsel, Intellectual Property who will serve as the primary in-house patent counsel on the IPAM team, with additional responsibility for open-source governance and IP-adjacent counseling. This attorney will lead core aspects of Zillow’s patent strategy and operations, partner with engineering and product leaders to identify and protect inventions, and help design practical guardrails for open-source use. We’re looking for someone with meaningful in-house experience who is comfortable working directly with technical stakeholders and enjoys building scalable processes. Product counseling experience with AI/ML tools or AI-enabled products is a strong plus and will help you stand out among otherwise strong candidates.

Requirements

4+ years of intellectual property practice experience, including meaningful in-house counsel experience at a technology, software, platform, or similarly situated company.
Substantial hands-on experience with patent drafting, prosecution, and portfolio management for software and/or AI-related inventions.
Demonstrated experience supervising or leading a patent portfolio, including strategy, filings, maintenance, pruning, and counseling on patent versus trade secret decisions.
Working knowledge of open-source licensing and practical experience counseling engineering teams on compliant use, contribution, and distribution.
Comfortable supporting product and engineering teams and communicating clearly, both orally and in writing, with technical and non-technical partners, including senior stakeholders.
Business-oriented and collaborative, with sound judgment and the ability to calibrate risk, offer practical options, and provide clear recommendations rather than simply issue-spotting.
Conscientious, detail-oriented, proactive, and comfortable managing multiple matters at once.
Look for opportunities to improve processes and tools, including through thoughtful use of AI where appropriate.
Experience advising on AI or ML product implementations is a strong plus.
Comfort spotting and escalating AI-related IP and data issues is also a plus, even if you are not a dedicated AI specialist.
A J.D. with active state bar admission or eligibility for in-house registration.
USPTO registration is a plus, but not required.

Nice To Haves

Product counseling experience with AI/ML tools or AI-enabled products is a strong plus and will help you stand out among otherwise strong candidates.
Experience advising on AI or ML product implementations is a strong plus.
Comfort spotting and escalating AI-related IP and data issues is also a plus, even if you are not a dedicated AI specialist.
USPTO registration is a plus, but not required.

Responsibilities

Lead patent strategy and portfolio management, including identifying patentable inventions aligned with business priorities and supporting competitive and portfolio analyses, such as defensive publications, trade secret versus patent decisions, and pruning.
Guide inventors through the disclosure process and provide clear, business-friendly recommendations on filing, continuation, and abandonment decisions.
Manage outside patent counsel on patent drafting and prosecution to ensure quality, consistency, and cost-effective outcomes.
Own core patent operations, including docketing, maintenance, annuities, and improvements to patent intake workflows, tools, and templates.
Contribute to patent education, communications, and self-service resources that improve patent literacy across engineering, product, and design teams.
Serve as a primary point of contact for open-source license questions related to use, contribution, and distribution in Zillow products and internal tooling.
Help maintain and operationalize open-source policies, playbooks, and intake processes in partnership with engineering, security, and compliance.
For candidates with relevant experience, provide product-facing counseling on AI-enabled features, including data, IP, and model-use considerations, and help translate evolving AI and IP rules into practical guidance for product and engineering stakeholders.