Patent Agent / Attorney — Candidate Questionnaire

1

Current status

basics

Current work status

Solo / independent practice At a firm (partner, associate, of counsel) In-house at a company Contract / part-time In transition / just left a role

Availability for a new engagement starting April 2026

Fully available — this would be my primary engagement Available alongside existing work — I can take on a defined scope Limited right now — better timing would be later in 2026 Still figuring out my availability

What does your current work actually look like week to week, and what kind of new engagement would fit realistically alongside it?

0 / 500

2

Your background

experience

Years of patent prosecution experience

Technology areas you have prosecuted — select all that apply

Software / business methods AI / machine learning Distributed systems / cloud Cryptography / blockchain Networking / telecom Hardware / semiconductors Biotech / life sciences Other

International filing experience — select all that apply

Have you worked at or for the USPTO?

Yes No

In what capacity?

Art unit(s) examined

Tenure

Describe your day-to-day workflow at the USPTO as concretely as you can.

For example: the kinds of applications you handled, how you searched, how you decided what mattered in the art, how you developed rejections, how interviews typically went, and what parts of the job required the most judgment.

0 / 600

Optional: What is something about examiner-side practice that most outside practitioners misunderstand?

0 / 400

3

How you think

written responses

When you receive a draft specification and claims from a technical founder, what are the first three things you assess, and why?

0 / 500

Describe a matter or problem that became harder than it first appeared. What made it difficult, what did you do next, and what would you do differently now?

This does not have to be a prosecution matter. Any context — legal, technical, professional — is fine.

0 / 500

Tell us about a time you had incomplete information but still had to make a recommendation or decision. How did you proceed?

0 / 450

You receive a software or AI-related §101 rejection that appears serious. What do you do first, and what are you trying to determine before choosing a response strategy?

0 / 400

4

Research and work tools

tools

What tools outside traditional legal research databases materially affect how you work today?

Briefly describe one specific example where a tool changed the speed, quality, or scope of your output.

0 / 400

What have you tried that did not improve your work as much as you expected?

0 / 350

How do you decide which parts of your work benefit from automation or AI assistance, and which parts require your direct attention?

0 / 400

5

Engagement structure

contract terms

Preferred contract vehicle — select all that apply

We are open to different structures. Tell us what works for you.

Hourly — open engagement billed by time Fixed fee per defined scope of work Monthly retainer — defined hours or availability Milestone-based — payment on deliverables Hybrid — retainer plus hourly for overages Flexible — open to whatever structure works

Typical hours available per week for a new engagement

Under 5 hours per week 5–10 hours per week 10–20 hours per week 20+ hours per week Highly variable — depends on scope and timing

Anything about your preferred engagement structure you want to explain or add

How you typically scope projects, what has and hasn’t worked in past engagements, anything we should know before we talk structure. Compensation discussion happens on the call — no need to address it here.

0 / 400

6

Fit and motivation

the real questions

What made you decide this was worth responding to now?

0 / 400

What traits in a client or collaborator make you do your best work, and what patterns tend to make an engagement less effective?

0 / 400

What kind of work do you want more of over the next few years, and what kind of work do you want less of?

0 / 400

What is one thing about your background, experience, or working style that could be a concern for the right client — and how do you think about it?

0 / 400

What would you want to understand about this engagement before deciding whether to proceed?

0 / 350