Attorney Advisor

This position is located in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Trademark Examination Policy. The attorneys of the Legal Policy Office are responsible for formulating examination policy in response to new or revised statutes and regulations, international treaties, issues that arise in trademark applications or registration maintenance practice, decisions issued by federal courts and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and USPTO administrative and/or automation changes.

Duties

This position permits, but does not require, remote work. The official duty station and physical worksite for employees who do not opt for remote work will be the Alexandria, VA Headquarters or one of the USPTO's Regional Offices located in Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI or San Jose, CA. The official duty station for employees who opt for remote work, will be their approved remote work location. Employees' locality pay will be determined by the location of their official duty station.

The individual selected for this position will:

• Rendering professional legal advice and legal policy services to agency officials with respect to questions regarding laws, regulations, practices, or other matters falling with the purview of the Office.
• Drafting final agency policy statements.
• Preparing interpretative and administrative orders, rules, or regulations to give effect to provisions of governing statutes or other requirements of law.
• Preparing, drafting, and/or reviewing administrative orders and related correspondence relating to trademark register integrity, unauthorized practice of law before the USPTO, and improper filing activities in trademark matters.
• Developing and preparing formal comments and substantive recommendations with respect to proposed legislation and corresponding regulations.
• Drafting and reviewing decisions for consideration and adoption by agency officials.

Salary

• $163,964 - $191,900/year

Conditions of Employment

• Applicants will only be accepted from United States Citizens and Nationals.
• Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related competencies.
• You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
• Required to pass a background investigation and fingerprint check.
• Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov) Suitable for Federal employment.
• If selected, you may be required to complete a two-year trial period.
• You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has not issued qualification standards for attorney positions. However, the USPTO sets minimum qualifications for attorney positions and sets forth these qualifications in each vacancy announcement. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement.

Specialized Experienceis experience that has equipped applicants with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the federal service. For this position, the next lower grade level is a GS-14.

To qualify for this position at the GS-15 level, you must possess at least one (1) year of Specialized Experience equivalent to the GS-14 grade level AND four (4) years of the Professional Legal/Law Experience.

Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Experience interpreting providing technical advice/guidance on trademark law, regulations and procedures, as well as international treaties such as the Paris Convention, Nice Agreement and Madrid Protocol.
• Experience applying USPTO trademark examination policies and procedures, rules of practice relating to representation of others before the USPTO, and the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure to analyze and evaluate the objective of senior agency leadership to develop necessary policy, procedures and guidelines for implementing judicial decisions and statutory, procedural and international treaty changes.
• Experience preparing various legal documents, e.g., substantive and procedural memos and guides; documenting and analyzing appropriate data and resources of a programmatic nature; and leading a team of employees to complete significant projects within established timelines.

AND

Professional Legal/Law Experience is defined as having experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies to perform successfully the duties of the position to be filled in the area of Trademark Law. This experience is characterized by giving legal advice with respect to questions, regulations, practices, etc. of the Federal government, law firm, or private industry; preparing interpretative orders, rules, decisions, or opinions to give effect to the provisions of statutes or laws; drafting, negotiating, or examining legal documents; drafting, preparing formal comments, or making substantive recommendations regarding legal work product; drafting, editing and preparing legal guidelines; drafting and reviewing decisions for adoption by an organization or official; conducting investigations to obtain facts; determining questions of law; evaluating legal precedents to offer findings/make recommendations; recommending policies and developing procedures or regulations to implement new or amended legislation; acting as legal, general or senior counsel to a major firm or organization; developing and implementing written training or guidance; providing instruction in a classroom setting.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Education If this position requires proof of higher education, or you are substituting education for experience, you must submit an unofficial transcript or a list of courses that includes the following information: name of accredited institution, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. Please refer to General Schedule Qualification Policies for more information. You are not required to submit official documents at this time; copies are sufficient. Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - US Department of Education. Another listing of services that can perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) website. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration. NOTE: Only education and experience acquired before the filing deadline will be considered. Report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Other Information

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information.

This is a Non Bargaining Unit position.

This is a Public Trust position and has a risk level designation of "HIGH".

Background Investigation - If selected for this position, you may be required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306), which includes a fingerprint and credit check, to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation.

The USPTO participates in E-Verify. For more information on E-Verify, please visit the Department of Homeland Security Website.

All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.

Relocation Expenses are not authorized and will not be paid.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement if additional identical vacancies in the same title, series, grade, and unit occur within 90 days from the date the certificate was issued.

All application materials become the property of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

USPTO Job Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should request accommodation(s) from the USPTO at USPTO Reason Accommodation.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors. If you believe that you have been discriminated against and would like to file an EEO complaint, you must do so within 45 days of the date of the alleged discriminatory act. Claims of employment discrimination must be submitted to the attention of the USPTO's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity via email (oeeod@uspto.gov) or phone (571-272-8292).

Required Documents

A complete application consists of the following Supporting Documents:

1. A resume or any other written format you choose to describe your job-related qualifications; optional cover letter: Your resume should indicate your citizenship and should list your educational and work experience including titles, salary, employment dates, duties, experience and how it relates to the specialized experience in the job announcement.

2. Transcripts: You MUST submit copies of your college transcripts for verification of the education requirements. Unofficial copies are accepted, however, if selected you will be required to furnish official transcripts. It is your responsibility to provide adequate proof that you meet the above educational requirement. Inadequate or illegible information could result in non-qualification and loss of consideration. (For Individual Occupational Requirements and/or Substitution of Education for specialized experience.

3. Bar Membership Documentation: You MUST submit documentation showing that you are an active
member of the Bar in Good Standing of any State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any Territorial
Court under the U.S. Constitution. This letter and/or certificate should be dated within the last six
months of the closing date of this job announcement. If you are unable to obtain this information by the
closing date of this announcement, you must contact the HR Specialist listed on this announcement to
make other arrangements prior to the closing date of the announcement.

4. Veterans' Preference Documentation, if applicable: positions are in the excepted service, not the competitive civil service. There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the USPTO considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor consideration in the hiring process. If you are eligible for veterans' preference in hiring, you are encouraged to include that information in your application along with the supporting documentation, e.g., SF-15, DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other supporting documentation. You may also find more information on positive consideration for attorney hiring.

You can upload your documents when you register or update your information on the Dept. of Commerce site which you access through the USAJobs site.

Your application and all required documents must be received by 11:59 pm ET on the closing date of this job announcement. NOTE: The preceding documents requirement are based on job requirements and individual applicant eligibility. Not all documents are applicable to all applicants; if you are unsure which documents apply to you, contact the HR Specialist listed on this announcement.

How to Apply

You MUST apply online. If you experience difficulties with the application process or do not have access to a computer, please contact the HR Specialist listed as the point of contact before the closing date of this job announcement.

If you are a new user to the USAJobs Site and have never registered for an account; you will first need to create an account profile with your basic contact information and a resume to begin applying. You must be a registered USAJobs user AND you must be signed-in to your account in order to apply for this position. For help setting up an account or for general help using USAJobs, go to USAJobs Help Page. Once you have gathered all of the required information and are ready to begin the application process, click the "APPLY" button at the right side of the page. You will then be directed away from USAJobs to the Department of Commerce application site for USPTO. You must click "Submit" at the end of the application process to send your application for consideration.

To return to your saved application, log in to your USAJOBS account at http://www.usajobs.gov/ and click on "Applications." Click on the position title, then select "Update Application."

If you experience any difficulties with the application site, help is available! OPM has a Help feature on each page. Use this option when you need assistance.

All required supporting documents will be collected electronically via the USAJobs "Saved Documents" feature.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is defined as information that can be traced back to a specific individual and potentially compromise their security or privacy. Examples of PII include: date of birth, Social Security Number, and place of birth.

Please ensure that you have removed all Personally Identifiable Information from all documents prior to submitting or uploading your applications material.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits