Patent Agent

Cisco•Atlanta, GA

2d•$169,300 - $237,200•Hybrid

About The Position

Cisco’s Intellectual Property team works across technology, business, and law to protect innovation in areas including networking, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, collaboration, and observability. The Patent Agent will partner with technologists, engineers, business groups, attorneys, and outside counsel to strengthen Cisco’s patent portfolio and advance its IP management processes and infrastructure. The role involves identifying and evaluating inventions, providing technical and patent-practitioner analysis, and working with outside counsel on strategic patent drafting, filing, and prosecution. The Patent Agent will build relationships across engineering, product, and business units; communicate technical and patent matters clearly to varied audiences; and help improve invention intake, prosecution standards, workflows, and analytics. The person in this role will contribute ideas informed by hands-on work and help shape how the patent program operates.

Requirements

Active USPTO registration as a patent agent or ability to obtain one.
Demonstrated experience using enterprise IP Management Systems (IPMS) and advanced patent analytics platforms to drive portfolio strategy, assess competitive landscapes, and manage sophisticated patent lifecycles.

Nice To Haves

In-house patent preparation and prosecution experience, or law firm experience working closely with an in-house client.
Ability to use data to build an argument that demonstrates the value of work to a client, business partner, or leadership audience.
Track record of credible, concise executive communication on patent risk, including translating unsettled patent issues into business-relevant guidance without over-hedging or misrepresenting the law, and defending a position under skeptical questioning.
Technical experience in at least one of these areas: silicon and optics, AI infrastructure and networking, security, collaboration, observability and cloud management, compute, or wireless communications.
Comfort navigating ambiguity and generating strategies that deliver impact.
Ability to learn unfamiliar technology and have substantive conversations with senior engineers.
Curiosity about the business and how it competes in the marketplace, and how that affects what should be protected.
Collaborative approach, including sharing credit, asking for help, and working well across functions.

Responsibilities

Purposefully harvest and evaluate inventions to strengthen Cisco’s patent portfolio and develop patent assets.
Identify patentable inventions and provide high-quality technical and patent-practitioner analysis.
Work with outside counsel to draft, file, and prosecute strategic and deployable patent assets.
Build relationships with engineering teams, product groups, and business units to understand their work and integrate IP considerations into business processes.
Translate technical subject matter for non-technical audiences and patent-practitioner subject matter for technical audiences.
Write clear summaries that help business leaders make decisions without requiring a patent background.
Contribute ideas to and help complete improvements to invention intake, prosecution standards, workflows, and analytics.
Share insights from the work to improve the team's practices and operations.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
Paid parental leave
Short- and long-term disability coverage
Basic life insurance
Paid holidays
Floating holiday for non-exempt employees
Paid day off for employee’s birthday
Paid year-end holiday shutdown
Paid personal wellness days
Paid vacation time for non-exempt employees
Flexible vacation time off program for eligible exempt employees
Paid sick time
Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family issues
Optional paid volunteer days
Annual bonuses for eligible non-sales employees, subject to Cisco policies
Potential Cisco restricted stock unit grants, subject to eligibility and vesting conditions