Patent Docketing Specialist (Remote)

Aurora Patents•Ann Arbor, MI

1d•Remote

About The Position

Aurora Patents is seeking an experienced patent docketing professional to take primary ownership of our U.S. and International patent prosecution docket. As Aurora's primary docketing professional and authority, you will independently own the integrity, administration, monitoring, and day-to-day operation of the firm's patent prosecution docket. As a core member of our firm’s three-person support team, you will be responsible for the firm's docketing system, processes, controls, integrity, and execution. This is not simply a data-entry, calendaring, or niche specialty position. We are looking for someone who understands patent prosecution well enough to independently review correspondence, identify and calculate deadlines, verify the accuracy of our docket, spot inconsistencies, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks, while helping to shape and evolve a critical part of the safeguards that protect our clients' patent rights. We are a patent boutique that specializes in working with early-stage med device, digital health, software, and life science companies to develop valuable patent portfolios through highly tailored, comprehensive strategies. We scale with our clients' needs and deeply understand the nuances of technology and patent strategy—and how to tie them effectively to business objectives. We are a fully distributed company with a culture that promotes a high degree of autonomy, work ownership, and quality at every step. You work where, when, and how you want—with others who have a deep passion for technology. We operate differently from a traditional law firm. Our team is collaborative, highly accessible, and intentionally low on hierarchy. That freedom comes with an expectation of ownership: when something is yours, we expect you to understand it, drive it forward, identify problems before they become problems, and communicate clearly with the people who depend on you.

Requirements

Significant experience independently docketing U.S. and international patent prosecution matters.
Ideally, 4+ years of patent prosecution support experience, including substantial responsibility for docket management.
Understanding how to identify and calculate patent prosecution deadlines from source correspondence rather than relying blindly on automated docketing rules.
Comfortable with the lifecycle of U.S., PCT, and foreign patent applications and recognizing the significance of common prosecution events, including office actions, restriction requirements, notices to file missing parts, allowances, issue fees, continuation/divisional deadlines, PCT national-phase deadlines, priority deadlines, IDS obligations, and related prosecution events.
Experience with Patent Center and researching matters using resources such as WIPO/PATENTSCOPE, EPO Register, Global Dossier, and foreign patent office databases.
Experience with a dedicated IP docketing system is required.
Ability to locate bibliographic and prosecution information from almost any jurisdiction and not be stopped by incomplete records, an unfamiliar patent office website, or a matter that arrived without a perfectly organized file.
Ability to manage a large number of concurrent deadlines without losing sight of what matters most and can clearly communicate issues, risks, and required actions to practitioners and other team members.
Ability to self-direct, prioritize, follow through, and take personal ownership of results.
Proactive: do not view responsibility as ending when a deadline is placed on a docket. Speak up and help drive issues to resolution if something appears stalled, inconsistent, overdue, or at risk.
Exceptionally high level of attention to detail and accuracy.
Willing to learn filing procedures in order to be a support when necessary to meet critical statutory deadlines if there is an overflow of filings or the filing paralegal is unavailable.
Highly collaborative and people-first: enjoy supporting practitioners, inventors, clients, and fellow paralegals; thrive as part of the solution even when things aren’t perfect (yet!); and take pride in making the entire team more effective.

Nice To Haves

AppColl experience is strongly preferred, but we can train an otherwise exceptional docketing professional.
Experience with Trello, Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and modern project-management tools is helpful.
Prior experience working remotely in a distributed environment is helpful.

Responsibilities

Owning the integrity and day-to-day hands-on operation of Aurora's patent prosecution docket.
Reviewing and analyzing incoming and outgoing correspondence relating to U.S., PCT, and foreign patent prosecution; identifying, calculating, entering, updating, and clearing statutory and procedural deadlines; monitoring upcoming deadlines; and proactively ensuring responsible team members are aware of required actions.
Managing the intake and triage of USPTO, WIPO, foreign associate, client, and practitioner correspondence, ensuring information is routed appropriately, docketed accurately, and acted upon in a timely manner.
Reviewing prosecution status and official records using Patent Center, WIPO/PATENTSCOPE, EPO Register, foreign patent office resources, and other appropriate sources to verify bibliographic information, priority claims, application status, and outstanding deadlines.
Conducting routine quality-control audits of docket entries, deadline calculations, bibliographic information, and matter status. Reconciling the docket against official records and source documents, investigating discrepancies, and driving issues through resolution before they create risk of abandonment or loss of rights.
Preparing and maintaining useful reports showing upcoming deadlines, outstanding actions, portfolio status, and other information needed by practitioners and management. Following up when necessary rather than simply generating a report and moving on.
Establishing and verifying docket records for new applications, new clients, and transferred matters, including reconstructing prosecution histories where necessary and independently identifying outstanding obligations and deadlines.
Helping to continuously improve docketing procedures, checklists, controls, and workflows. Raising and helping to fix recurring sources of risk or inefficiency.
Working closely with patent practitioners and prosecution paralegals to keep portfolio information accurate and current and help create meaningful portfolio insights for clients.
Securing signatures on important filing and patent prosecution documents for the filing paralegal and outside law firms associated with clients.
As needed, preparing and filing U.S. and international patent applications and prosecution documents, including formal documents such as declarations, assignments, powers of attorney, petitions, IDSs, and other supporting documents.