Intellectual Property Associate - Memphis or Nashville (#845)

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C. seeks an Intellectual Property Associate with three to six years of experience to join its growing Intellectual Property Practice Group, which serves clients across a broad range of technologies, including manufacturing, healthcare, and emerging AI-adjacent industries. The successful candidate may be resident in either the Memphis or Nashville office.

About the role

This is a full-spectrum position spanning prosecution, litigation, and counseling, offering meaningful ownership of matters and direct client contact from the outset.

Responsibilities

• Prosecution:
  • Work before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and foreign patent offices.
  • Interview inventors and evaluate invention disclosures.
  • Conduct patentability and prior art searches.
  • Prepare written assessments of the prospects for protection.
  • Draft and file U.S. and foreign patent applications.
  • Coordinate foreign filings with associates abroad.
  • Develop arguments for patentability through office action responses, examiner interviews, and appeal briefs.
• Litigation:
  • Actively participate on patent litigation teams in federal courts and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
  • Handle briefing, motion practice, discovery, infringement and validity analyses, claim charts, and claim construction.
  • Support trademark, trade secret, and copyright litigation in courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
• Counseling:
  • Handle freedom-to-operate and portfolio counseling.
  • Perform clearance and opinion work.
  • Conduct intellectual property due diligence for mergers, acquisitions, and licensing transactions.

Requirements

• Registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• Degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or physics, or a comparable technical background.
• Three to six years of experience in intellectual property law.
• Strong patent litigation skills and experience.
• Tennessee law license required, or ability to sit for the Tennessee Bar and obtain licensure promptly.

Qualifications

• Superior academic credentials.
• Very strong writing and oral communication skills.
• Strong work ethic.
• Creativity, maturity, and attention to detail to work effectively with business leaders, attorneys, scientists, engineers, inventors, and patent examiners.