IP Legal Specialist II

Lear Corporation•Southfield, MI

About The Position

The Patent Paralegal provides comprehensive administrative and procedural support to attorneys and patent professionals in managing domestic and international patent portfolios. This role is responsible for coordinating patent filings, maintaining docketing systems, ensuring compliance with deadlines, and acting as a liaison between inventors, attorneys, and external agencies.

Requirements

Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree required
2–5+ years of experience in handling Paralegal/IP administrator, patent prosecution, or intellectual property law
Experience with both U.S. and foreign patent filings strongly preferred
Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Paralegal certification preferred

Responsibilities

Prepare documents and instructions for international patent applications under the direction of attorneys.
Identify and learn the requirements of key foreign jurisdictions (EP, DK, DE, CN, JP) for preparation of formal documents and filings.
Support management in developing the capability in-house to reduce expense: Draft and review any related formal documents, including declarations, assignments, powers of attorney, and Information Disclosure Statements (IDS) and e-file using Patent Center.
Assist with Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) filings, national phase entries, and foreign filings.
Monitor and update deadlines in accordance with USPTO, PCT, and EP rules.
Notify attorneys and stakeholders of upcoming deadlines and required actions.
Monitor patent maintenance payment deadlines and instruct payment under the direction of attorneys.
Serve as a liaison between attorneys, inventors, foreign associates, and clients.
Interface with inventors and technical contacts to submit invention disclosures, confidentiality disclosure agreements requests, investigations, and risk mitigation reviews.
Correspond with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and international patent authorities.
Coordinate document execution and submission processes.
Organize Patent Committee Meetings, create meeting minutes, and action tasks.
Monitor communications with outside counsel and foreign associates to follow the standard process (SOPs) and report inconsistencies.
Provide support to IP function leaders on ad-hoc basis for driving key team activities (e.g., organizing IP events, trainings, workshops, preparing material, etc.) for engagement and any required administrative support.
Coordinate patent award payment according to company policy.
Maintain accurate records of patent applications, issued patents, and related documentation.
Track patent lifecycle milestones, including filings, office actions, renewals, and patent awards.
Assist in portfolio reporting.
Support management in generating reports from docketing system, data clean-up and data extraction.
Support management in maintaining and developing dashboards & data digitization initiatives.
Ensure compliance with applicable patent laws, regulations, and internal policies.
Maintain electronic and physical files in accordance with document retention policies.
Support due diligence efforts for transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, or licensing.