Job Details

Salesforce is looking for an experienced attorney to join its Intellectual Property Team and to help creatively handle all of the many IP issues that come our way. The ideal candidate will have 5-10 years of IP legal experience focused on patents and will have the following skills:

Patent Prosecution
Patent Litigation and/or Litigation Support
Strong Technical Background
Superior Analytical Skills

Pluses:
Patent and Technology Licensing
Open Source
Standards Organizations
Competitive Intelligence
Copyright (both Software and Content)
Trademarks
Confidentiality
Investigations

Salesforce has consistently been rated as one of the top innovative companies by Forbes. The successful candidate’s duties will include managing a portion of our patent portfolio to ensure that we protect our developers’ innovations. While we don’t do in-house prosecution, we actively engage in harvesting and shaping our patent portfolio to provide strategic value to the company. At the same time, the successful candidate will be actively involved in patent analysis for handling patent assertions and responding with appropriate counter-assertions. Additional duties will include helping with open source initiatives, participating in patent licensing, consulting with our Commercial and Product teams on technology licensing and indemnification issues, and more.

The successful candidate will have the ability to team well with others and thrive in a chaotic but fun work environment. Creativity in finding solutions that fit our Salesforce culture to achieve customer success is highly valued. Excellent verbal and written communication skills along with the ability to work independently while demonstrating sound business and legal judgment are key to success in this job. Patent bar admission and familiarity with key cloud technologies and the legal issues that arise from the use of those technologies are considered a plus but are not requirements.

Responsibilities:

Manage prosecution and use of patents relating to the company's Web-based, on-demand application service technologies; maintain technical understanding of the company's research and development initiatives; help develop and implement the company's overall patent strategy; help implement the company's open source initiatives; analyze adversely held patents; investigate and resolve confidentiality matters; and supervise outside patent counsel.

Opportunities depending upon experience to assist Senior Counsel with trademark, false advertising and unfair competition claims; patent acquisitions; inbound and outbound software, application service and intellectual property license agreements with vendors, partners and customers.

Desired Skills/Experience:

Undergraduate degree in technical major such as electrical engineering or computer science or relevant technical experience required

Law degree from ABA accredited law school required for attorney applicants

Admission to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office preferred but not required for the right candidate. Attorney applicants should be admitted to at least one state bar.

5-10 years of relevant experience, preferably with a combination of patent prosecution and litigation experience

Familiarity with software development and copyright law as it applies to software development and distribution

Significant experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications relating to software and Internet technologies; familiarity with database concepts, Web services, security, Web apps, user interfaces, API’s, big data and analytics, and other Internet technologies is required

Transactional experience is beneficial.

Familiarity with a variety of portfolio management tools

Familiarity with international patent prosecution and litigation

Familiarity with common issues for IP and standard setting

Patent Litigation or Patent Litigation Support

Posting Statement

At Salesforce we believe that the business of business is to improve the state of our world. Each of us has a responsibility to drive Equality in our communities and workplaces. We are committed to creating a workforce that reflects society through inclusive programs and initiatives such as equal pay, employee resource groups, inclusive benefits, and more. Learn more about Equality at Salesforce and explore our benefits.

Salesforce.com and Salesforce.org are Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employers. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status. Salesforce.com and Salesforce.org do not accept unsolicited headhunter and agency resumes. Salesforce.com and Salesforce.org will not pay any third-party agency or company that does not have a signed agreement with Salesforce.com or Salesforce.org .

Salesforce welcomes all.