AGC - Intellectual Property

Coherent Corp.•Santa Clara, CA

2d•$156,250 - $273,437•Hybrid

About The Position

This role serves as an embedded IP business partner to assigned Business Units (BUs), attending engineering, product, roadmap, and sales reviews regularly. The position requires developing deep technical fluency in supported product lines to contribute substantively in technical discussions. The IP professional will partner with BU leaders on go-to-market strategy, competitive positioning, partnerships, and customer engagements where IP is a value driver or risk. Additionally, the role involves triaging non-IP legal issues such as commercial, employment, trade compliance, export, privacy, antitrust, and trade secrets, routing them to appropriate Legal & Government Affairs (L&GA) Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The position also drives strategic patent development and portfolio management, including patent claim strategy designed to read on competitor products and roadmaps, leading competitive teardowns and reverse-engineering. It involves conducting infringement and Freedom to Operate (FTO) analyses, setting filing, continuation, and abandonment strategies aligned with business objectives, and identifying monetization opportunities like SEP declarations, licensing, assertion campaigns, defensive cross-licensing, and divestiture candidates. The role directs and supervises outside counsel on U.S. and foreign patent drafting, filing, and prosecution, managing budgets and quality, and may draft patent applications for strategically critical inventions. It also leads invention harvesting, coaches inventors, and adopts AI tools for invention identification, prior art/FTO search, drafting, and portfolio analytics. Furthermore, the role supports patent litigation and pre-litigation matters, leads clearance and FTO for new products and acquisition targets, and supports IP aspects of commercial agreements with the commercial legal team.

Requirements

JD from an accredited U.S. law school
Admission to at least one U.S. state bar
USPTO registration
Minimum 6 years of patent law experience; mix of law firm and in-house preferred.
Technical degree (BS required; MS or PhD strongly preferred) in materials science, chemistry, chemical or electrical engineering, applied physics, or related discipline.
Demonstrated experience in competitive claim drafting, FTO opinions, and patent monetization (SEP, licensing, or assertion); materials teardown experience a plus.
Operates as a business partner — not a service provider — to product, engineering, and commercial leaders.
Strategic mindset on patents as competitive and monetization instruments; technical fluency in the assigned domains.
Strong outside counsel and project management across geographies; excellent communication with executives and non-legal stakeholders.
Ability to work at a computer and participate in virtual and in-person meetings for extended periods of time.
Ability to review, analyze, and manage detailed technical and legal documentation.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally, as needed, to support business and legal operations.

Nice To Haves

MS or PhD strongly preferred in materials science, chemistry, chemical or electrical engineering, applied physics, or related discipline.
Materials teardown experience a plus.
Preferred depth in SiC, crystal growth, thermal management materials, or advanced ceramics; comfort engaging materials-science R&D and process engineering.

Responsibilities

Serve as embedded IP business partner to assigned BUs; attend engineering, product, roadmap, and sales reviews on a recurring cadence.
Develop deep technical fluency in supported product lines sufficient to contribute substantively in technical discussions.
Partner with BU leaders on go-to-market strategy, competitive positioning, partnerships, and customer engagements where IP is a value driver or risk.
Triage non-IP legal issues (commercial, employment, trade compliance, export, privacy, antitrust, trade secrets) and route to appropriate L&GA SMEs.
Drive patent claim strategy designed to read on competitor products and roadmaps; lead competitive teardowns and reverse-engineering with engineering and outside vendors.
Conduct infringement analyses and FTO analyses; set filing, continuation, and abandonment strategy aligned with business objectives.
Identify monetization opportunities: SEP declarations and licensing, assertion campaigns, defensive cross-licensing, and divestiture candidates.
Direct and supervise outside counsel on U.S. and foreign drafting, filing, and prosecution; manage budgets and quality; draft personally for strategically critical inventions.
Lead invention harvesting; coach inventors; adopt AI tools across invention identification, prior art / FTO search, drafting, and portfolio analytics.
Support patent litigation and pre-litigation matters with outside counsel; lead clearance and FTO for new products and acquisition targets.
Support IP aspects of commercial agreements (NDAs, JDAs, supply agreements, licenses, M&A diligence) with the commercial legal team.