Principal Corporate Counsel: Trade Secrets, Copyrights, and AI in IP
About the role
This role is built around a genuine legal problem: the IP frameworks that governed technology companies for the past thirty years do not cleanly map onto how AI-era innovation works. Patents remain important, but inventorship rules are being tested across the world, copyright matters more than it ever has but the rules on AI-generated output are still being written, and trade secrets may become the dominant protection strategy for proprietary systems - but only if the program is built and maintained with rigor.
Responsibilities
Lead the IP aspects of Cisco's AI legal & governance strategies: the policies, documentation standards, and invention bring together workflows that resolve whether AI-assisted innovations produce enforceable patents or evidentiary gaps.
Update mentorship on human conception documentation and partner cross-functionally with other subject-matter guides in Legal to establish the approved-tool standards to ensure IP protection and IP risk mitigation related to how engineers use AI in invention development.
Evolve and run Cisco's copyright program in the AI era — both the traditional function and the emerging questions: what Cisco can own in AI-generated technical and creative output, how to structure human authorship records to improve protectability, and how to lead the downstream copyright liability composed by foundation model training data in Cisco's vendor stack.
Evolve and run Cisco's trade secret program as a genuine enterprise function; not just a policy document. That means: identifying the best methodology and systems to classify our proprietary assets that deserve trade secret protection; detailing the reasonable protective measures required to establish and defend that protection; and craft the legal and technical governance that makes the program defensible in litigation.
Work with the patent team to advise them on AI-specific patent-related strategies, including AI-assisted inventorship documentation and any inter-jurisdictional differences that affect how we run patent protection.
Work with the AI legal team to audit and run AI vendor IP exposure, including being the IP critical issue point for AI-related agreements and establishing the IP contractual standards that Cisco requires before deploying AI tools at scale.
Serve as the IP team's legal intelligence function on AI: translating USPTO mentorship, Copyright Office reports, Federal Circuit decisions, and legislative developments in the US and abroad into timely executive-ready mentorship.
Requirements
JD and active bar membership: J.D. from an accredited law school with active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction; 10+ years IP legal experience: Minimum of 10 years of intellectual property legal experience, with at least 5 years focused specifically on technology-based IP matters, including copyright ownership and trade secret protection.
AI & IP proficiency: Deep working knowledge of copyright and/or trade secrets as applied to AI-generated works.
Preferred Qualifications
Prior experience advising on copyright licensing for software and/or AI-generated content at scale, including SaaS platform output, API-delivered content, or enterprise software products where the line between human-authored and AI-generated deliverables is blurred and legally material.
International IP exposure relevant to AI (e.g., working knowledge of EU AI Act transparency obligations and their tension with trade secret protection).
Experience structuring or leading a trade secret litigation matter or pre-litigation investigation, including familiarity with trade secret identification for discovery purposes, reasonable-measures evidence, and the causal nexus standards courts are applying to AI-related misappropriation claims.
Skills
Critical thinking, attention to detail, and strong analytical skills are essential. Proficiency in legal research, drafting, and negotiation is required. Familiarity with AI technologies and their legal implications is preferred.
Benefits
Health, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance.
Pay
$202,200.00 to $256,000.00
Schedule
Hybrid work model: two days of in-office attendance each week, with limited exceptions.