Attorney Advisor (Trademark Examining Attorney) for USPTO Forum

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone who applied for the Clerk position heard anything as of yet???

[Anonymous User]

I applied for the clerk position and received an interview invite yesterday.

[Anonymous User]

Ugh, I am devastated. What does it take to get in to the PTO?

Congratulations and good luck to those who got an interview!

Undistinguished graduate of a barely accredited law school.

[Anonymous User]

Ugh, I am devastated. What does it take to get in to the PTO?

Congratulations and good luck to those who got an interview!

Undistinguished graduate of a barely accredited law school.

If that was the case, then I'd have gotten in years ago

[doglover13]

I received an interview request via email last week. Best of luck to all!

Do you mind sharing exactly when last week? I think the interview requests went out in two or three waves during the last cycle, and I'm wondering if the Sunday emails were wave one or wave two.

Last Thursday!

[Anonymous User]

I received my interview request yesterday (Tuesday). Good luck everyone!

[Anonymous User]

Has the cyber security incident affected the hiring process?

[TM494551]

Has the cyber security incident affected the hiring process?

Someone on Reddit, I believe, said that was most likely the case. I don't know how true that is though!

[Anonymous User]

While I am sad for myself, I'm happy for those of you who have been contacted for interviews. Congratulations to you all!

[Anonymous User]

I’m still holding out some hope. Minimal hope, but still hope none the less

[TM494551]

Man, I wonder if we'll hear back....

[Anonymous User]

Man, I wonder if we'll hear back....

It seems like not as many people have been contacted this time around. Perhaps the process has been delayed for some reason.

[TM494551]

Man, I wonder if we'll hear back....

It seems like not as many people have been contacted this time around. Perhaps the process has been delayed for some reason.

Maybe. From my understanding they were looking to hire a good number of people and had even received funding to increase new hire numbers. I really hope we’ll receive some notification. I really wanted this position and the overall job market isn’t great for recent graduates. I can’t help but feel really disappointed and defeated.

[Anonymous User]

Interviewed last week and the panel said interviews are going through September. Unclear if that mean all of September or only part of September. Either way it sounds like still a long wait to hear about TJOs this cycle.

[Anonymous User]

Interviewed last week and the panel said interviews are going through September. Unclear if that mean all of September or only part of September. Either way it sounds like still a long wait to hear about TJOs this cycle.

Thank you so much for that update. I was thinking that they were doing it in multiple cycles and that seems supported now. So for all of us who haven't heard anything yet, maybe we will be contacted for the next round. *fingers crossed*

[Anonymous User]

Interviewed last week and the panel said interviews are going through September. Unclear if that mean all of September or only part of September. Either way it sounds like still a long wait to hear about TJOs this cycle.

That's promising! Thank you for the update! I hope we'll have another wave soon

[Anonymous User]

If anyone reading this received another interview invitation after interviewing but not being selected in a previous cycle since the pandemic started/interviews went virtual, could you please let us know (and also if it was in consecutive cycles)? It's my impression that while repeat interviews used to be common when they were in person, it now seems like one only has one chance. So I don't know about the old wisdom, "If you really want it, keep applying."

[Anonymous User]

Hi, I am wondering if there are any current trademark attorneys on here who can talk about their job satisfaction? Most of what I’ve read online is negative, but I am still very interested in this role.

[Anonymous User]

Hi, I am wondering if there are any current trademark attorneys on here who can talk about their job satisfaction? Most of what I’ve read online is negative, but I am still very interested in this role.

That's a good question. It seems like most don't bother to come back to this forum once they start working in the role.

[TM494551]

Has anyone heard anything? Someone said interviews will be going on through September, but I wanted to know if another wave has happened since the last one (last week in July)

[Anonymous User]

Law clerk applicants, have you guys heard back? Seems like only the attorney advisor position has received interview invitations.

[Anonymous User]

Hey all. Just found out about this thread and wanted to pop in with a few notes. I'm a former trademark examiner and am in touch with some people at the USPTO still.

1. The examiner positions are ridiculously competitive, much more than you might expect. The trademark office's acceptance rate of applications varies per cycle, but is usually 10% or less.
(I don't know if this information will help anyone feel better or worse but i wanted to at least provide some context.)

2. I know several current examiners who had to apply multiple times before they got an offer. Don't give up hope if you don't succeed your first time around!

[Anonymous User]

Hey all. Just found out about this thread and wanted to pop in with a few notes. I'm a former trademark examiner and am in touch with some people at the USPTO still.

1. The examiner positions are ridiculously competitive, much more than you might expect. The trademark office's acceptance rate of applications varies per cycle, but is usually 10% or less.
(I don't know if this information will help anyone feel better or worse but i wanted to at least provide some context.)

2. I know several current examiners who had to apply multiple times before they got an offer. Don't give up hope if you don't succeed your first time around!

Thanks for commenting. When you say 10%, do you mean after you get an interview or overall? Also, can you comment on the quality of life? Some of the examiners on the interview panel seemed very grumpy. Finally, you said you left the USPTO, are you a trademark lawyer in private practice? Or did you decide to do something else entirely?

[Anonymous User]

"When you say 10%, do you mean after you get an interview or overall? Also, can you comment on the quality of life? Some of the examiners on the interview panel seemed very grumpy. Finally, you said you left the USPTO, are you a trademark lawyer in private practice? Or did you decide to do something else entirely?"

-10% - of total applications. It's difficult to get the interview stage, so I imagine the percentage of acceptance jumps considerably if you get to that point.

-quality of life - it is a good job with lots of flexibility timewise and good benefits. The pay is lower than your average firm lawyer but the benefits can be worth it for a lot of people. Honestly, lots of people stay in that job for decades.

However, it is a very monotonous job where you do a lot of the same things day after day. This is why I personally left; I was bored. I'm in private practice now.

[Anonymous User]

Hey all. Just found out about this thread and wanted to pop in with a few notes. I'm a former trademark examiner and am in touch with some people at the USPTO still.

1. The examiner positions are ridiculously competitive, much more than you might expect. The trademark office's acceptance rate of applications varies per cycle, but is usually 10% or less.
(I don't know if this information will help anyone feel better or worse but i wanted to at least provide some context.)

2. I know several current examiners who had to apply multiple times before they got an offer. Don't give up hope if you don't succeed your first time around!

1. It's competitive but in the opposite direction of any decent legal job--the less academic prestige, substantive work experience, or anything remotely impressive on a resume at all one has, the more likely they will be hired. I would love to see the reasoning behind their asinine hiring decisions that result in people who don't make it past the probation period and people who intend to bounce the second training is over.

2. Do you know anyone who interviewed more than once since the pandemic started?