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Salary: USD 150,000 - 225,000 / annual
Formlabs is a 3D printing company powering innovation at over 50,000 industry leaders worldwide, including Apple, Google, Tesla, New Balance, and NASA. They are building tools that enable anyone to bring ideas to life, from cutting-edge products to life-saving medical devices.
This Senior Legal Counsel role focuses on intellectual property strategy and portfolio management. You will own the strategy for Formlabs' patent portfolio by building metrics to inform global strategy and work closely with R&D and inventors to guide future growth. As part of a lean legal team, you will have the opportunity to expand your scope beyond IP work and advise business leaders globally on corporate, commercial, employment law, and general litigation matters.
Key responsibilities include:
- Owning patent portfolio value by building metrics and criteria that determine what Formlabs patents, maintains, or cuts, and tracking cost against competitive value
- Setting global patent strategy across the U.S. and internationally, weighing where protection is worth pursuing given cross-border risk
- Drafting, filing, and prosecuting patent applications with the USPTO, European Patent Office (EPO), and China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA)
- Running freedom-to-operate (FTO) analyses, patentability assessments, and portfolio risk reviews
- Partnering directly with R&D to identify patentable inventions early
- Managing outside counsel across prosecution, opinions, and disputes while keeping cost and quality in check
- Supporting IP litigation, opposition proceedings, and enforcement
- Advising on manufacturing, vendor, and supplier agreements, as well as strategic commercial contracts
- Handling other generalist legal matters including trade compliance and general litigation support
You will work independently in a fast-moving, global company, juggling multiple live priorities and thriving in an "every day is different" environment.
REQUIREMENTS:
- J.D. and admission to at least one state bar, plus registration to practice before the USPTO (patent bar)
- Undergraduate degree in engineering, physics, mathematics, or a related technical field
- Deep expertise in U.S. patent law, plus working knowledge of major international patent systems; experience with trademark and trade secret law
- Track record in patent drafting, prosecution, and portfolio management with demonstrated decisions about what to file and what not to file
- At least 3 years at a top-tier law firm focused on patent work
- Ability to read claim charts and underlying specifications without translation
- Excitement about expanded scope to operate as a generalist and learn other areas of law
- Comfort working independently in a fast-moving, global company
BONUS SKILLS:
- In-house legal experience at a hardware or hard-tech company
- Experience with Chinese manufacturing operations
- Experience with matters before the EPO and CNIPA
- Experience with global copyright law, commercial transactions, and licensing agreements
