Staff Patent Agent

This is a California Remote, Exempt, Full-Time position. The individual hired for this role must be located in the San Francisco Bay Area, as occasional visits to our San Leandro, CA office will be required. This position reports to the CEO of the Company.

We’re currently seeking a Staff Patent Agent to join our extraordinary team.

- Do you have expertise in Patent Law and Procedure?

- Are you excited about working with inventors, researchers, and attorneys to help secure patents for unique inventions?

- Are you a Patent Agent who can provide technical advice to help companies acquire, protect, and enforce patent rights for their technological advancements?

- Are you knowledgeable in patent law for biotechnology, manufacturing, ingredient, or CPG companies?

If you answered yes to these questions, WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! 

What we are looking for in you

The Staff Patent Agent will join a newly formed legal team, serving as a champion of intellectual property at the organization.  This key role offers the opportunity for an ownership-minded Patent Agent to build a foundational patent portfolio and help drive commercial success.  This position will be trusted to manage critical touchpoints in building the organization’s patent portfolio, serving as the primary point of contact for our patent portfolio and technical liaison. This role will initially report to the Chief Operating Officer.

• Prepare and prosecute high-quality patent applications together with outside counsel as the primary internal patent portfolio manager
• Scout and drive patentable inventions through regular interactions with technical teams
• Perform patentability and FTO searches in support of R&D and business teams
• Build a knowledge base and establish ongoing monitoring of competitor patent portfolios
• Perform IP landscape surveys in support of current and future product opportunities
• Acquire a deep technical understanding of the R&D together with the business goals and help formulate appropriate IP strategies to protect innovations 
• Provide education and guidance regarding patent matters across the organization

• 7+ years of experience as a registered patent agent
• Admitted to practice before the USPTO
• Advanced degree in life sciences, microbiology, chemical engineering, and related fields, Ph.D. 
• Preferably with at least 3 years in-house experience with a biotechnology, manufacturing, ingredient, or CPG company
• Strong patent prosecution experience in biotechnology or manufacturing industry, including independent function and oversight over invention harvesting, pertinent filings, deadlines, and workflows
• Command of both U.S. and international patent rules and practices

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders, including executive leadership, R&D, Commercial, Regulatory, Legal, and third-party contacts
• Superior attention to detail and a sense of client service
• Creative problem-solving skills and initiative, flexibility, and ability to work independently
• Cultural and emotional intelligence to develop and nurture collaborative relationships in a diverse environment 
• Creative thought leadership skills to collaborate with the technical team to expand patent coverage

Benefits & Perks

In addition to the chance to work with a world-class team and cutting-edge technology to help combat climate change and address the impending food crisis, Air Protein employees also enjoy competitive benefits. We offer Flexible PTO, parental leave, a 401(k) match, and compensation plans that include employee equity.

Air Protein invests in employee development, and the company culture is shaped by shared values:

- Protect people & the planet

- Play as a team and have a growth mindset

- Do what you say you will do

- Be the change you seek

- Create a culture of belonging

Additional Benefits & Perks

- Competitive Health Benefits, including ancillary benefits and HSA/FSA programs

- Paid Holidays

- Stocked kitchen with snacks and drinks

- Fun -and useful- swag

- Weekly Brown Bag - All-Hands Meetings

Air Protein is an equal-opportunity employer

At Air Protein, we are committed to providing equal opportunities. Because we want the absolute best people, we enthusiastically invite people of every race, color, orientation, age, gender, origin, and ability – or any other status protected by law – to apply to join our team. Research has shown that women and people from marginalized groups may not apply for a role if they aren't a 100% match.  Please don't hold back.  If you think you will excel in this role, but perhaps you don’t tick every box, we'd appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

About Air Protein

Air Protein is a modern food company, crafting air-based food ingredients to feed us more sustainably, helping to renew the planet’s resources and eliminating the compromise between nutrition, taste, and climate impact. Using novel technology inspired by NASA, we convert elements found in the air around us into nutritious, protein ingredients using postbiotic cultures, then incorporate the ingredients into a broad range of food recipe formulations that cross the grocery store. It’s where cutting-edge science meets bold ambition to reinvent the way we eat.

Join our team of passionate scientists, engineers, and business leaders working to transform the future of food with solutions we never thought possible, creating food ingredients that are delicious and more sustainable. Using no arable land and very little water, Air Protein produces a highly nutritious protein ingredient that is free from pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, or hormones.

In addition to the chance to work with cutting-edge technology to help combat climate change and our planet’s impending food crisis, Air Protein employees also enjoy competitive benefits, total compensation plans, and a collaborative company culture. If you join us on this relentless pursuit for more, changing the world will soon feel as natural as taking a breath.

Air Protein is funded by ADM, a world leader in fermentation technology, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Barclays, one of the world’s leading financial institutions.

Check us out in the media, news, and in the community:

- Time:  America's Top Greentech Companies 2024

- JointForces.com:  Air Protein Selected for DARPA Cornucopia Initiative

- TED Talk: A forgotten Space Age Technology Could Change How We Grow Food

- Business Wire:  ADM, Air Protein Sign Strategic Agreement to Advance Development and Production of Unique Landless Protein