Senior Intellectual Property Counsel
At Cloudflare, we have our eyes set on an ambitious goal: to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers approximately 25 million Internet properties, for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.
We realize people do not fit into neat boxes. We are looking for curious and empathetic individuals who are committed to developing themselves and learning new skills, and we are ready to help you do that. We cannot complete our mission without building a diverse and inclusive team. We hire the best people based on an evaluation of their potential and support them throughout their time at Cloudflare. Come join us!
About the job
Cloudflare is looking for a Senior Intellectual Property (IP) Counsel to join the legal team. You’ll report to Cloudflare’s Senior Associate General Counsel for Product & IP and work closely with our legal, product, engineering teams.
We are looking for an intellectually curious, creative, and process-driven individual to build on Cloudflare’s existing IP program and help it scale as we grow as a company.
The ideal candidate has an ability to manage large, diversified patent and trademark portfolios in a fast-paced environment and can develop and execute strategies for maturing Cloudflare’s IP program. The ideal candidate also has experience with brand enforcement efforts. Having a computer science degree, being a member in good standing of the patent bar, and having prior experience working as an IP attorney at a technology company are strongly desired.
What you'll do
As Cloudflare’s IP specialist, you will be asked to manage Cloudflare’s IP program and advise on a wide range of legal issues related to the program. For example, in this role you will:
- Patent Harvesting – Encourage employees to submit ideas; work with employee inventors to evaluate inventions and assess patentability; and manage day to day operation of the patent filing program.
- Patent Prosecution – Provide strategic input and manage external counsel in preparing, filing, and prosecuting applications involving new inventions with the USPTO.
- Trademark – Manage all aspects of Cloudflare’s trademark portfolio, including performing trademark searches, managing the prosecution of trademark applications (foreign and domestic), and managing opposition/cancellation actions (foreign and domestic).
- Brand Enforcement - Manage brand enforcement matters in coordination with our program manager and Trust & Safety team, including the drafting of cease and desist templates, UDRPs, and other brand enforcement matters.
- Open Source - Help manage Cloudflare’s open source program, including inbound open source license review requests and bill of materials generation for distributable software. Review open source licenses and inbound IP licensing arrangements.
- Employee matters - Provide strategic guidance on, draft, and update IP provisions in Cloudflare’s global employment forms. Partner with the Cloudflare’s People, Product, and Engineering teams to develop or advise on IP policies across different global jurisdictions.
- Patent Litigation - Evaluate patent infringement claims in support of Cloudflare’s litigation team. Assist the litigation team in identifying appropriate engineers and subject matter experts at Cloudflare for support in answering interrogatories and other questions related to litigation matters.
- M&A - Conduct IP due diligence for potential M&A transactions.
Examples of desirable skills, knowledge and experience
- JD degree and admitted to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
- 5+ years of law firm and/or in-house experience as an IP attorney, preferably with technology companies.
- Technical background / expertise is required (preferably with networking and/or cybersecurity technologies).
- Experience with patent and trademark portfolio management is required. Prior experience with prosecuting patent and trademark applications in front of the USPTO is desired.
- Experience with open source software licensing and compliance is desired.
- Ability to work independently and autonomously.
- Attention to detail.
- Strong communication skills and cooperative team player. Lead with empathy and understanding while embracing diverse points of view. Flexibility to adapt and thrive in a fast paced environment.
- Ability to work cross-functionally, with lawyers and non-lawyers, to establish effective solutions efficiently and in an amenable manner.
What Makes Cloudflare Special?
We’re not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. We’re a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet.
Project Galileo: We equip politically and artistically important organizations and journalists with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers--at no cost.
Athenian Project: We created Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration.
Path Forward Partnership: Since 2016, we have partnered with Path Forward, a nonprofit organization, to create 16-week positions for mid-career professionals who want to get back to the workplace after taking time off to care for a child, parent, or loved one.
1.1.1.1: We released 1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our privacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.
Sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d love to hear from you!
This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.
Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person's, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer.
Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, changing the application process, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment. If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.
