Senior Patent Attorney

Role Summary

Senior Patent Attorney—Pharmaceuticals, Small Molecule. Gaithersburg, MD. Hybrid work, on average 3 days a week from the office. Join AstraZeneca's Global IP team to protect the company’s pipeline by drafting and prosecuting pharmaceutical patents and advising on IP strategy across R&D.

Responsibilities

• Independently lead all aspects of build, maintenance, and defense of specific patent portfolios
• Identifying and managing all associated IP risks for your projects - presenting them to IP, legal and business teams
• Actively counsel members of Research & Development organizations to identify new inventions as well as devise and implement strategies for patent protection over the extended drug development life cycle
• Build and implement global strategic approaches toward building patent portfolios and contributing to increased business value
• Prepare and prosecute patent applications worldwide including effectively managing outside counsel as needed
• Lead all aspects of large intellectual property estates in AstraZeneca's core and opportunistic therapeutic areas
• Evaluate and monitor patent portfolios of third parties
• Develop and communicate IP guidance to partners across the business, including within R&D, Business Development, commercial and legal
• Review and analyze license agreements and other contracts
• Provide IP and technical analysis in support of patent litigation
• Managing external spend to meet budget targets
• You may also work on business development deals or coordinate our response to legal changes in a particular country or region

Qualifications

• Required: U.S. Patent Attorney who can practice before the USPTO with previous experience handling pharmaceutical patent portfolios
• Required: Bachelor's Degree in chemistry, biochemistry or related science
• Required: 4+ years of relevant experience in life science patent prosecution
• Required: Strong core chemical/small molecule pharmaceutical patent prosecution skills and ability to independently lead patent dockets and portfolios in multiple markets and jurisdictions
• Preferred: Education to Ph.D. level or equivalent, and/or several years of laboratory experience in the relevant scientific area
• Preferred: Experience in the biotech and/or pharmaceutical industry
• Preferred: Combined law firm experience and in house experience, preferably at a global organization
• Preferred: Experience in leading external service providers
• Preferred: First-hand experience of IP-related litigation
• Preferred: High level of integrity and motivation, ability to work independently
• Preferred: Ability to balance multiple tasks and projects with constantly evolving priorities
• Preferred: Ability to be an enterprise leader for the organization

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in chemistry, biochemistry or related science
• Desirable: Ph.D. level or equivalent, and/or additional laboratory experience

Additional Requirements

• Office Working Requirements: In-person collaboration is expected, with an average of three days per week in the office. Flexibility to accommodate individual needs where possible.