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  These positions are located in Patent Examining Corps of the Patent and Trademark Office, Alexandria, Virginia. Incumbent is responsible for reviewing patent applications, determining the scope of the protection claimed by the inventor, researching relevant technologies and communicating findings to patent practitioners/inventors. 

   Complete applications will be processed by cut-off dates. First consideration will be given to eligible applicants who submit all required application materials by the early cut-off date of October 5, 2007.Subsequent cut-off dates will be each Friday thereafter until closing date.

RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE: You may be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive of up to $9,900 per year for a maximum of four years. A service agreement will be required. Incentive amount and duration is determined by title and grade level. For more information, please visit our website at www.usptocareers.gov

SALARY RANGE:  40,184.00 - 75,537.00 USD per year

SERIES & GRADE:  GS-1224-05/09

POSITION INFORMATION:  Full Time Excepted Service Term

PROMOTION POTENTIAL:  13

DUTY LOCATIONS:  Few vacancies - Alexandria,VA

MAJOR DUTIES: Patent Examiners are responsible for the quality, productivity, and timely processing of patent applications. 

At the GS-5 level :The employee receives formal classroom instruction and/or on-the-job training in the principles, concepts work processes, regulations, and reference materials fundamental to the patent examination process.  Performs various patent examining tasks of a simple nature. Receives specific and detailed guidance and training in all aspects of work assignments. On-the-job training assignments provide a practical understanding of the organization, programs, policies, and objectives of the agency as well as furnish experience in the application of principles, procedures, and work techniques to actual patent examination situations. 

At the GS-7 level: The employee performs basic patent examining functions (e.g., planning and conducting the search, applying references to the claimed invention, etc.) only after receiving extensive preliminary instructions from the supervisor.  Training emphasizes developing an understanding of the relationship of the technical concepts underlying the specialty technology area to the patent examining process. Assignments are pre-selected to combine performance of productive work with supervised on-the-job training in both the judgmental and methodological aspects of the work.

At the GS-9 level: The employee independently performs basic patent examining functions (e.g., planning and conducting the search, applying references to the patent application, etc.) with no preliminary instructions from the supervisor.  The employee performs assignments of average difficulty in the assigned area of technology relative to the patent examining function requiring the application of fundamental principles, concepts, techniques, and guidelines relative to patent examining.  May perform advanced patent examining functions (e.g., the evaluation of special claim constructions, the requirement of restrictions, the recognition and development of probable interferences, etc.) only after obtaining instructions from the supervisor and all determinations involving such functions are subject to close review. 

NOTE:  Applications will be accepted from students who expect to complete qualifying education within 9 months from the date of application. However, the agency will verify that the education was completed successfully before the applicant can be appointed.

BASIC QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

A. Have at least a bachelor degree in professional Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

OR

B. Have a combination of education and experience--college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the electrical or computer engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

Professional registration--Current registration as a professional engineer by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico.

Written Test- Evidence of having succesfully passed the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) examination, or the written test required for professional registration, which is administered by the Boards of Engineering Examiners in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

Specified academic courses--Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of a professional engineering curriculum as described in paragraph A.

Related curriculum--Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in engineering technology or in an appropriate professional field, e.g., physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance.

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: In addition to meeting the BASIC QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS candidates must also have some additional qualifications.Please follow the link for more information (Recommended):

http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=73163900