Attorney Advisor (Trademark Examining Attorney) for USPTO Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know when we can expect to hear back from USPTO? Or has anyone heard back from them?

I got a referred email and an email requesting written statements on 12/15/22

[Anonymous User]

Same here, I was wondering when they start the interview process.

[Anonymous User]

I sure hope we will hear something in the upcoming week(s). As far as I read in this forum they send interview offers after the cut off for the written statements? Mine were due today by 11:59 EST. Did you have the same deadline?

[Anonymous User]

Here is the hiring timeline in case you haven't seen it.

https://www.uspto.gov/jobs/trademark-ex ... g-timeline

I'm an AA with a different agency and already work under a quota system, so I'm hoping to hear back fairly quickly because I don't know if my anxiety can handle waiting weeks. Haha.

[toplee86]

I think everyone had same deadlines for a written statement. I wonder when they will send out the interview info

[Anonymous User]

Here is the hiring timeline in case you haven't seen it.

https://www.uspto.gov/jobs/trademark-ex ... g-timeline

I'm an AA with a different agency and already work under a quota system, so I'm hoping to hear back fairly quickly because I don't know if my anxiety can handle waiting weeks. Haha.

Please keep us updated if you hear anything since you may hear before us folks who are not already in the system

[Anonymous User]

Here is the hiring timeline in case you haven't seen it.

https://www.uspto.gov/jobs/trademark-ex ... g-timeline

I'm an AA with a different agency and already work under a quota system, so I'm hoping to hear back fairly quickly because I don't know if my anxiety can handle waiting weeks. Haha.

I sure hope it doesn’t take over a month to be notified if we are going to be interviewed or not. But I guess I’ll prepare my brain for that wait just in case. Has anyone here previously interviewed?

[Anonymous User]

Here is the hiring timeline in case you haven't seen it.

https://www.uspto.gov/jobs/trademark-ex ... g-timeline

I'm an AA with a different agency and already work under a quota system, so I'm hoping to hear back fairly quickly because I don't know if my anxiety can handle waiting weeks. Haha.

I sure hope it doesn’t take over a month to be notified if we are going to be interviewed or not. But I guess I’ll prepare my brain for that wait just in case. Has anyone here previously interviewed?

[Anonymous User]

Here is the hiring timeline in case you haven't seen it.

https://www.uspto.gov/jobs/trademark-ex ... g-timeline

I'm an AA with a different agency and already work under a quota system, so I'm hoping to hear back fairly quickly because I don't know if my anxiety can handle waiting weeks. Haha.

If you do get an interview, do not refer to the quota as a "quota." I once did that and the unpleasant people referred to here as "bad cop" (now retired) snapped at me and said: "It's not a quota! It's [our intrrnal word for quota]."

[Anonymous User]

I met the minimum requirements and submitted by written statement on Monday. The HR employee confirmed receipt of my written statement. I'll try to keep the thread posted when I hear anything more!

[Anonymous User]

Here is the hiring timeline in case you haven't seen it.

https://www.uspto.gov/jobs/trademark-ex ... g-timeline

I'm an AA with a different agency and already work under a quota system, so I'm hoping to hear back fairly quickly because I don't know if my anxiety can handle waiting weeks. Haha.

I sure hope it doesn’t take over a month to be notified if we are going to be interviewed or not. But I guess I’ll prepare my brain for that wait just in case. Has anyone here previously interviewed?

Many times--far too many times, frankly. It always takes over a month between the due date of the written statements and the interview invitations.

[Anonymous User]

Here is the hiring timeline in case you haven't seen it.

https://www.uspto.gov/jobs/trademark-ex ... g-timeline

I'm an AA with a different agency and already work under a quota system, so I'm hoping to hear back fairly quickly because I don't know if my anxiety can handle waiting weeks. Haha.

I sure hope it doesn’t take over a month to be notified if we are going to be interviewed or not. But I guess I’ll prepare my brain for that wait just in case. Has anyone here previously interviewed?

Many times--far too many times, frankly. It always takes over a month between the due date of the written statements and the interview invitations.

What has helped keep you motivated to keep applying? I'm worried I'll feel too defeated to ever try again. Especially when I'll likely have no idea what factors hurt me/didn't help me.

[JDMaryland]

Happy NYE! I have a few questions and would appreciate any insight:

1. Any insight into the interview questions? Are they mainly behavioral?

2. Does anyone know if USPTO will negotiate steps for current federal employees?

3. For recent hires, how has virtual training been?

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone heard back yet? Sorry, my anxiety is getting the best of me.

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone heard back yet? Sorry, my anxiety is getting the best of me.

I have not heard back yet. This is my third time applying and going through this. Patiently waiting.

[acerothstein]

Has anyone heard back yet? Sorry, my anxiety is getting the best of me.

I have not heard back yet. This is my third time applying and going through this. Patiently waiting.

Thanks for the response, for what it's worth, I've yet to hear back as well.

[Anonymous User]

If the official USPTO hiring timeline is to be believed, we're not going to hear anything until the end of this month at the very earliest... But that won't stop me from checking my email 100 times a day

[Anonymous User]

New graduate here, more or less just wondering if it's true that not having much experience can be a benefit for these positions, in the sense that the USPTO might want baby lawyers as opposed to more experienced ones? I feel like I've heard and read this online a few times so I'm curious. Anyone have insight?

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know if the law clerk position is as competitive as the actual attorney position? It felt like the clerk position would be open to a smaller number of people since they wanted candidates with a J.D. but not bar admission.

[Anonymous User]

Here is the hiring timeline in case you haven't seen it.

https://www.uspto.gov/jobs/trademark-ex ... g-timeline

I'm an AA with a different agency and already work under a quota system, so I'm hoping to hear back fairly quickly because I don't know if my anxiety can handle waiting weeks. Haha.

I sure hope it doesn’t take over a month to be notified if we are going to be interviewed or not. But I guess I’ll prepare my brain for that wait just in case. Has anyone here previously interviewed?

Many times--far too many times, frankly. It always takes over a month between the due date of the written statements and the interview invitations.

What has helped keep you motivated to keep applying? I'm worried I'll feel too defeated to ever try again. Especially when I'll likely have no idea what factors hurt me/didn't help me.

1. There's little to no application work left to do when one has already prepared excellent written statements that lead to interviews every time; only updates are needed.
2. Virtual interviews--take advantage of them while they last. Not having to waste time and money--including lost wages in the case of those precariously employed--traveling to VA (in the middle of winter no less) is huge.
3. The hiring process is capricious, arbitrary, and random at best. One manager one time told me the job might be too basic for me, while another manager on another panel asked a bizarre question implying the opposite, a true head-shaker of a question that should not be put to anyone sorted into the most highly qualified applicants at the interview stage. So, do prepare answers to behavioral questions, but also be prepared for curveballs.
4. This job might be characterized as "competitive," but it's not so in the usual way with law jobs, where one can say, e.g., I guess I should have gotten into HYS if i wanted a federal clerkship, or I guess I should have worked harder 1l year if I wanted this Biglaw job, or even I guess I should acquire more TM (or even legal) experience if I ever want a chance at this job.

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone heard back yet? Sorry, my anxiety is getting the best of me.

glad i’m not the only one

[Anonymous User]

1. There's little to no application work left to do when one has already prepared excellent written statements that lead to interviews every time; only updates are needed.
2. Virtual interviews--take advantage of them while they last. Not having to waste time and money--including lost wages in the case of those precariously employed--traveling to VA (in the middle of winter no less) is huge.
3. The hiring process is capricious, arbitrary, and random at best. One manager one time told me the job might be too basic for me, while another manager on another panel asked a bizarre question implying the opposite, a true head-shaker of a question that should not be put to anyone sorted into the most highly qualified applicants at the interview stage. So, do prepare answers to behavioral questions, but also be prepared for curveballs.
4. This job might be characterized as "competitive," but it's not so in the usual way with law jobs, where one can say, e.g., I guess I should have gotten into HYS if i wanted a federal clerkship, or I guess I should have worked harder 1l year if I wanted this Biglaw job, or even I guess I should acquire more TM (or even legal) experience if I ever want a chance at this job.

re: #3 - 100% accurate - although I had 0 behavioral questions (meaning "tell me about a situation where you [XX]") and mostly "how do you think you would do [X]" questions. While similar, and my prep for behavioral questions was instructive, it was definitely different than what I'd been expecting based on all the feedback I had read on here and Reddit about the interview process. The question that threw me (as an experienced attorney making a practice area change after taking time off from practicing law) was along the lines of "what would you do if you and your supervisor disagreed about allowing and registering a mark" ... in a tone that seriously implied that I had never had a situation where I disagreed with someone in a supervisory position. I am guessing that interviewer had a situation in their past where that specific issue came up and was a problem, but wow, there was a lot of animosity in the asking.

If you have practiced in the past, be prepared to answer what your billable requirements were and whether or not you met them. If you practiced at less than full time at any point, be sure you know total amount of time you practiced full time and practiced part time, and how many hours a week "part time" really meant.

Also, in my case at least, each of the interviewers had read my cover letter, resume and written statement, and asked some specific questions from those submissions.

[Anonymous User]

1. There's little to no application work left to do when one has already prepared excellent written statements that lead to interviews every time; only updates are needed.
2. Virtual interviews--take advantage of them while they last. Not having to waste time and money--including lost wages in the case of those precariously employed--traveling to VA (in the middle of winter no less) is huge.
3. The hiring process is capricious, arbitrary, and random at best. One manager one time told me the job might be too basic for me, while another manager on another panel asked a bizarre question implying the opposite, a true head-shaker of a question that should not be put to anyone sorted into the most highly qualified applicants at the interview stage. So, do prepare answers to behavioral questions, but also be prepared for curveballs.
4. This job might be characterized as "competitive," but it's not so in the usual way with law jobs, where one can say, e.g., I guess I should have gotten into HYS if i wanted a federal clerkship, or I guess I should have worked harder 1l year if I wanted this Biglaw job, or even I guess I should acquire more TM (or even legal) experience if I ever want a chance at this job.

re: #3 - 100% accurate - although I had 0 behavioral questions (meaning "tell me about a situation where you [XX]") and mostly "how do you think you would do [X]" questions. While similar, and my prep for behavioral questions was instructive, it was definitely different than what I'd been expecting based on all the feedback I had read on here and Reddit about the interview process. The question that threw me (as an experienced attorney making a practice area change after taking time off from practicing law) was along the lines of "what would you do if you and your supervisor disagreed about allowing and registering a mark" ... in a tone that seriously implied that I had never had a situation where I disagreed with someone in a supervisory position. I am guessing that interviewer had a situation in their past where that specific issue came up and was a problem, but wow, there was a lot of animosity in the asking.

If you have practiced in the past, be prepared to answer what your billable requirements were and whether or not you met them. If you practiced at less than full time at any point, be sure you know total amount of time you practiced full time and practiced part time, and how many hours a week "part time" really meant.

Also, in my case at least, each of the interviewers had read my cover letter, resume and written statement, and asked some specific questions from those submissions.

They seem to ask the question that threw you to everyone, every time; even going back to when they used to have two rounds of interviews, they would ask that question on the first round.

I'm surprised that each person on your panel read any, let alone all, of your written materials in advane, because, in my experience, no manager has ever referred to any of them. I would have been very happy to talk about them too. One time I referred to something I said in my own written statement, and the "bad cop" (iykyk) snapped at me and said "this isn't a writing job."

[acerothstein]

I am curious if anyone else in this thread attended the "Becoming a trademark attorney" webinar put on by the USPTO in November 2022. The USPTO sent out an FAQ sheet to all attendees that included the following question and answer:

"Trademark Examining Attorney Position:
1. How many positions are available?
• The goal is to hire as many as possible."

Surely this cannot be the case? I imagine they have budgeted a set amount for new attorneys. That said, several participants on the webinar panel said more or less the same thing. I don't want to feel overly optimistic, but do they expect to hire a great deal more attorneys this cycle? I understand that the trademark backlog has gotten quite severe.

[Anonymous User]

I am curious if anyone else in this thread attended the "Becoming a trademark attorney" webinar put on by the USPTO in November 2022. The USPTO sent out an FAQ sheet to all attendees that included the following question and answer:

"Trademark Examining Attorney Position:
1. How many positions are available?
• The goal is to hire as many as possible."

Surely this cannot be the case? I imagine they have budgeted a set amount for new attorneys. That said, several participants on the webinar panel said more or less the same thing. I don't want to feel overly optimistic, but do they expect to hire a great deal more attorneys this cycle? I understand that the trademark backlog has gotten quite severe.

The budget looks the same as in previous years:
Budget Highlights
The USPTO’s FY 2023 estimated spending is $4,152 million. This is a $136 million increase (net) relative to the FY 2022 estimated spending of $4,016 million. The net increase is comprised of a $215 million upward adjustment for prescribed inflation/adjustments to base and a $79 million downward adjustment in program spending and other realized efficiencies. This aggregate funding level allows for the hiring of 650 patent examiners (roughly 250 over estimated attrition levels), the hiring of 100 trademark examining attorneys (approximately 60 over estimated attrition levels), and sufficient production support capabilities required to match examination capacity with the expected workload." https://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/ ... ission.pdf

Last year's stats:

AFAIK, ~60 examiners hired to start 10/25 and ~40 will be selected for March.

Re: Attorney Advisor (Trademark Examining Attorney) for USPTO
"[The new USPTO Director] revealed that the Office has hired 32 additional examiners and is deploying new technologies to help." > can anyone confirm whether 32 was the number hired from the most recent (March) class? I thought it was supposed to be 40 (per current examiner's comment earlier in this thread). The budget for next year estimates that 104 examining attorneys will be hired next year and ~100 annually for FYs 2023-2027. I thought they already hired around 100 per year (60 in October, 40 in March), but the report makes it seem like it's an increase.