Patent Engineer, Electrophysiology and Neurovascular
Location: Galway, Ireland
Contract: Full Time, Hybrid
Seniority level: Not Applicable
Employment type: Full-time
Job function: Legal
Industries: Hospitals and Health Care
The Johnson & Johnson Global Legal Organization is recruiting for a Patent Engineer to primarily support Johnson & Johnson’s MedTech sector. More specifically, the position will support Johnson & Johnson’s MedTech Electrophysiology and Neurovascular businesses. This role is pivotal in shaping the intellectual property landscape for J&J MedTech, ensuring that breakthrough technologies are protected and commercialized effectively to maintain our leadership in the industry.
The Neurovascular R&D team that this position primarily supports is based at Johnson & Johnson campus in Galway, Ireland. The Electrophysiology R&D team the position supports on a part‑time basis is based in Israel. Regular, weekly presence at the Galway campus is required. Johnson & Johnson is currently operating under a hybrid working model, which will allow the successful candidate to work remotely two days per week.
Overall Purpose Of This Role
You will use scientific and technical expertise to serve as a point of contact between the in‑house patent legal group and the various research teams within the J&J MedTech Electrophysiology and Neurovascular groups that develop new products and discover new technology. As a creative driver of technology for the Johnson & Johnson MedTech sector, you will collaborate with members of the legal group to identify groundbreaking innovations and enable commercially significant inventions to be protected by valid patents in the various technology areas, while guiding the business strategically with regard to third‑party intellectual property. Collaborating with the patent attorneys, you will provide advice and direction on patent matters to the R&D teams as they develop innovative technologies.
Key Responsibilities
Partnering with patent attorneys, R&D, and business teams to develop and implement patent strategies associated with product development.
Serving as a liaison between patent attorneys, R&D, process engineering, Global Strategic Marketing, and other teams to facilitate a cohesive intellectual property strategy.
Monitoring and analyzing competitor patent activities and strategies and related product development and commercialization, including identifying potential risks and opportunities related to the competitive landscape. Utilize advanced patent analytics tools, such as Clarivate’s Derwent Innovation and Innography, to generate actionable intelligence reports.
Preparing periodic reports and updates to the J&J MedTech technical community and senior management on intellectual property matters.
Assisting patent attorneys to perform critical review of patents, draft patent applications, draft patent amendments, patent opinion drafts, clinical study protocols and other patent‑related documents for technical accuracy, prevent inadvertent disclosure, and ensure full protection of company inventions.
Collaborating closely with R&D personnel to conduct invention review meetings and product ideation sessions with on‑site patent attorneys for ongoing projects, perform comprehensive searches of patent databases for invalidity, patentability, landscape and patent marking review.
Coordinating and administrating Invention Review Board meetings.
Performing technical analysis of third‑party patents in distinct technology areas to identify and/or assess potential third‑party patent considerations, including freedom‑to‑operate analysis.
Ensuring detailed instruction is provided to researchers and inventors regarding legal requirements for a patentable invention and assist in the preparation and entry into an internal invention system of invention disclosures.
Developing and maintaining a deep understanding of the business, including current research activities, products in development, the current commercial product offerings and existing IP portfolio.
Attending and participating in Legal, R&D and business meetings related to such activities.
Intermittent travel to domestic sites up to 5% may be required.
Potential Areas Of Related Development
Developing and maintaining competitive intelligence reports to support product development and strategic planning.
Assimilating competitive intelligence information from Global Strategic Marketing group with patent searches to identify competitors’ product strategies as well as potential enforcement of J&J Patents.
Collaborating with patent attorneys to support litigation, oppositions, licensing, and other business development‑related activities.
Education
A technical degree in engineering, physics, or math (including, but not limited to mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering), is preferred, with an advanced degree being preferred.
The successful candidate should be eligible to become a European Patent Attorney, with a willingness to pursue qualification through the European Qualifying Examination (EQE) if not already in progress. Pursuit of the EQE will not be a requirement. However, if the candidate desires, J&J will support training, education, and ongoing professional development including by access to internal and external training resources.
Experience and Skills
1 year (with a PhD) to 6 years (with a BS) technical experience in a relevant field.
Ability to work across multiple technology areas is preferred.
Excellent organizational, interdependent partnering and project management skills is required. Adaptability and stakeholder management skills are also valuable.
Ability to communicate effectively, as well as strong interpersonal skills, including emotional intelligence is required.
Proficiency in the MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and OneNote) is required.
Prior experience working with intellectual property in a research, legal, or industry setting is advantageous.
Familiarity with patent processes in Europe and/or the United States is preferred.
Experience reviewing patents and patent applications or patent claims is preferred.
Knowledge of competitive technologies in the medical device industry is preferred.
Experience searching patent and scientific literature databases is preferred.
Experience supporting patent matters or working as a Patent Agent, Patent Engineer, Patent Liaison or Scientific Advisor Role in a corporate law department and/or law firm is preferred.
Preferred Skills
Analytical Reasoning, Coaching, Communication, Compliance Management, Consulting, Data-Driven Decision Making, Due Diligence, Intellectual Property Investigations, Intellectual Property Law, Intellectual Property Transaction, Legal Research, Legal Services, Organizational Knowledge, Patent Law, Problem Solving, Strategic Thinking, Trademarking
Proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
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