Assistant General Counsel – Patents & Trade Secrets

Nike - Portland, OR

Nike seeks an experienced patent lawyer to serve as its Assistant General Counsel – Patents & Trade Secrets, reporting directly to Nike’s Chief Patent Counsel. In this role, you will be responsible for providing strategic patent and legal advice to Nike’s business and innovation teams on a global scale. You will collaborate with professionals managing Nike’s patent portfolios and support Nike’s IP litigation and transactions teams on patent issues as needed.

Core Responsibilities
• Advising senior management, technical and business stakeholders on patent matters
• Setting and implementing a patent strategy for Nike’s latest innovations
• Interacting with patent offices throughout the world in order to accelerate the issuance of Nike’s patented innovations
• Managing outside patent counsel both domestically and globally
• Developing, coordinating and reviewing patent research and analysis projects, including prior art searches, competitive intelligence, landscapes, patentability analyses, portfolio analyses, infringement/non-infringement analyses, validity/invalidity analyses
• Coordinating and managing patent committees
• Setting and implementing patent policies
• Developing and implementing internal systems and processes for managing Nike’s IP
• Leading in-house patent professionals in managing patent harvesting and prosecution
• Spearheading internal education initiatives and trainings related to patents
• Managing freedom to operate projects
• Conducting patent purchase due diligence and collaborating on patent acquisition transactions
• Conducting trade secret audits, implementing trade secret protection measures, training innovation and business groups about trade secret best practices, providing trade secret advice and counseling
• International travel as needed
• Providing such other IP support as needed

• A Juris Doctorate degree
• USPTO membership
• A technical degree recognized by the USPTO
• Proven leader with 10 years of experience in patent and IP matters
• Experience managing teams of IP professionals
• Registered and in good standing with at least one State Bar
• Experience in a corporate legal environment, on a global scale, preferred
• Excellent oral communication and presentation skills required
• Superior organization and project management skills
• Strong communication skills with innovators, technologists and senior business leaders
• Strong interpersonal skills; a team player able to establish and build partnerships at all levels of the innovation and legal community
• Must have the ability to multi-task, manage multiple priorities, and deliver results in a fast-paced environment
• Needs to be a hands on “doer” with the ability to work independently
• The ability to work across multiple time zones with Nike employees and partners in the U.S., Europe, and Asia

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Posted: 30+ days ago

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