Patent Agent, Hardware
San Jose, CA$150k - $220kfull-timePosted 4w ago
About the role
Patent Agent responsible for building the hardware-focused patent portfolio, from invention harvesting and drafting to prosecution, across hardware technologies. Collaborates with engineering teams during design and prototype reviews to identify patentable inventions and drafts applications to protect core innovations as products evolve.
Responsibilities
- Build and execute the patent strategy for Hark's hardware products and platform technologies, including portfolio architecture across core, platform, and product-specific innovations
- Work directly with electrical, mechanical, systems, firmware, wireless, sensor, and product design engineers to identify patentable inventions
- Draft and prosecute U.S. and international applications covering hardware and hardware-software systems, translating complex engineering into technically accurate and strategically broad claims
- Prepare office action responses, conduct examiner interviews, and develop prosecution strategies aimed at commercially meaningful claim scope
- Manage continuation, divisional, and design patent strategy as products and architectures evolve
- Review and improve applications prepared by outside counsel, and work with international counsel on PCT and foreign prosecution strategy
- Conduct patentability and prior art analyses, monitor competitive patent activity, and support freedom-to-operate work ahead of product milestones
- Own inventorship determinations, assignment hygiene, and IDS practice across the portfolio
Qualifications
- Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, with an active registration number
- Bachelor's degree or higher in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, physics, or a closely related technical discipline
- 5+ years drafting and prosecuting patent applications involving complex hardware technologies, at a firm, in-house, or both
- Experience at a consumer electronics, hardware, semiconductor, wearable, mobile device, or AI hardware company
- Ability to take an engineer's half-formed disclosure and turn it into a complete application, claims and figures included, without supervision
- Strong command of electrical, mechanical, and systems-level engineering concepts, and the confidence to push an inventor on the details
- Comfortable building in ambiguity — stood up prosecution processes from scratch
- Hands-on by default; drafting, not just managing outside counsel
- Excellent written communication and exceptional attention to technical detail
Skills
Required:Patent drafting and prosecutionInvention harvestingClaims drafting
Benefits
- (Not explicitly listed in the provided description)
Last updated Sep 24, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
About Hark
building the most advanced personal intelligence in the world.
At Hark, we are building the most advanced personal intelligence in the world.
personal intelligenceartificial intelligence
More open roles at Hark
- Warehouse Associate4d agoSan Jose, CA · Supply Chain
- Industrial Designer1w agoHybrid (San Jose, CA) · Design
- Member of Technical Staff, LLM & Production1w agoSan Jose · AI Foundation Models
- Member of Technical Staff, Hark Desktop2w agoHybrid (San Jose) · Product Engineering
- Application Security Engineer2w agoSan Jose, CA · Privacy & Security