Patent Attorney Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Patent Attorney resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
If you’re a detail-oriented problem solver with a knack for breaking down complex concepts into easy-to-understand components, you might be a great fit for a career as a patent attorney.
As a patent attorney, you’ll research existing patents and laws to help companies establish ownership of their intellectual property. You’ll draft detailed descriptions of new inventions and create drawings that illustrate how they work. And you’ll craft arguments that support your client’s claims of ownership over their creations.
Because this is such a specialized field, you’ll need a resume that highlights your experience in this area of law. Follow these tips and example to write a compelling patent attorney resume that hiring managers will love.
How to Write a Patent Attorney Resume
Here’s how to write a patent attorney resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are your chance to show off your experience and qualifications. But they can be tricky to write because you have to be both descriptive and concise. And that can be a tall order!
The best way to do this is to focus on the results of your work. So rather than saying you “wrote patent applications,” you could say you “wrote patent applications for medical devices that received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.”
The second bullet point is more specific and provides more detail about the nature of the work. And it also provides a quantifiable result—a FDA approval! That’s a great thing to include in any bullet point because it shows that you were able to successfully complete a project.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a patent attorney role, your resume is likely to go through an applicant tracking system (ATS). This software looks for certain keywords related to the position in order to determine whether you have the necessary skills and experience. If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right terms, the ATS might not rank it highly enough to be seen by a human.
One way to make sure your resume makes it past the ATS is to include relevant keywords throughout all sections of your application. Here are some of the most commonly used patent attorney keywords:
- Patent Prosecution
- Patent Law
- Patentability
- Licensing
- Intellectual Property
- Trademarks
- Patent Litigation
- Legal Writing
- Legal Research
- Legal Advice
- Prosecution
- Corporate Law
- Trade Secrets
- Software Patents
- Copyright Law
- Non-disclosure Agreements
- Corporate Governance
- Contract Law
- Legal Opinions
- Trademark Prosecution
- Legal Document Preparation
- Appeals
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Commercial Litigation
- Civil Litigation
- Privacy Law
- Trials
- Litigation
- Patent Drafting
- Patent Applications
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a patent attorney, you are responsible for helping businesses protect their intellectual property. In order to do this, you need to be proficient in a variety of software programs and systems that are used in the patent process. Some of the most commonly used programs are patent research databases, patent drafting software, and patent prosecution software. Additionally, patent attorneys need to be familiar with the USPTO rules and regulations.