Assistant General Counsel (Patents & Trade Secrets) – Large Corporation – Portland, Ore.

nikeNike seeks an experienced patent lawyer to serve as its Assistant General Counsel – Patents & Trade Secrets, reporting directly to Nike’s Chief Patent Counsel.  In this role, you will be responsible for providing strategic patent and legal advice to Nike’s business and innovation teams on a global scale.  You will collaborate with professionals managing Nike’s patent portfolios and support Nike’s IP litigation and transactions teams on patent issues as needed.

Core Responsibilities

  • Advising senior management, technical and business stakeholders on patent matters
  • Setting and implementing a patent strategy for Nike’s latest innovations
    • Interacting with patent offices throughout the world in order to accelerate the issuance of Nike’s patented innovations
  • Managing outside patent counsel both domestically and globally
  • Developing, coordinating and reviewing patent research and analysis projects, including prior art searches, competitive intelligence, landscapes, patentability analyses, portfolio analyses, infringement/non-infringement analyses, validity/invalidity analyses
  • Coordinating and managing patent committees
  • Setting and implementing patent policies
  • Developing and implementing internal systems and processes for managing Nike’s IP
  • Leading in-house patent professionals in managing patent harvesting and prosecution
  • Spearheading internal education initiatives and trainings related to patents
  • Managing freedom to operate projects
  • Conducting patent purchase due diligence and collaborating on patent acquisition transactions
  • Conducting trade secret audits, implementing trade secret protection measures, training innovation and business groups about trade secret best practices, providing trade secret advice and counseling
  • International travel as needed
  • Providing such other IP support as needed

Qualifications

  • A Juris Doctorate degree
  • USPTO membership
  • A technical degree recognized by the USPTO
  • Proven leader with 10+ years of experience in patent and IP matters
  • Experience managing teams of IP professionals
  • Registered and in good standing with at least one State Bar
  • Experience in a corporate legal environment, on a global scale, preferred
  • Excellent oral communication and presentation skills required
  • Superior organization and project management skills
  • Strong communication skills with innovators, technologists and senior business leaders
  • Strong interpersonal skills; a team player able to establish and build partnerships at all levels of the innovation and legal community
  • Must have the ability to multi-task, manage multiple priorities, and deliver results in a fast-paced environment
  • Needs to be a hands on “doer” with the ability to work independently
  • The ability to work across multiple time zones with Nike employees and partners in the U.S., Europe, and Asia

Contact
To apply, please visit this website: http://jobs.nike.com/portland/legal/jobid10538192-assistant-general-counsel-patents-.

Additional Info
Employer Type: Large Corporation
Job Location: Portland, Oregon

The heart of Nike is built around one simple idea -- innovate.  Whether that innovation is called Nike Air or Nike Free or Nike Flyknit, the principle is the same: think something that nobody has thought before and create product that is uniquely innovative and uniquely Nike. So take chances.  Think bigger than the next achiever.  Just know one thing.  The more you succeed, the higher we’ll raise the bar.