IP Paralegal (AI)

Location: Hybrid in San Francisco or Washington D.C., United States

Salary: $130K–$210K annually for U.S.-based positions; equity offered. International salaries are set according to the local market.

Company

Perplexity AI develops AI technology and operates a fast-growing, technically complex intellectual property program.

What you will do

• Manage end-to-end patent and trademark prosecution workflows, including docketing, deadlines, filing coordination, portfolio maintenance, reporting, U.S. trademark filings, foreign filings, office action responses, and watch notices.
• Administer copyright matters, support trade secret protection and open source compliance, and manage domain names, online brand protection, and takedown programs.
• Own intake and triage for invention disclosures, trademark clearance requests, and other IP matters; run preliminary clearance searches and the patent rewards program.
• Manage outside counsel relationships, budgets, accruals, invoices, billing guidelines, rate negotiations, and matter-management systems.
• Conduct portfolio analysis, competitive landscape monitoring, filing trend tracking, and gap identification to support portfolio strategy.
• Build intake workflows, filing playbooks, templates, dashboards, and escalation paths; use agentic AI tools for docketing, disclosure intake, prior-art gathering, and portfolio reporting.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience as an IP paralegal, including a mix of in-house and law firm experience.
• Demonstrated AI tool fluency and genuine curiosity about applying agentic AI systems to IP program operations.
• Hands-on experience with patent and trademark prosecution workflows, including docketing, filing coordination, and portfolio maintenance.
• Working knowledge of copyright administration and trade secret protection practices.
• Experience managing outside counsel relationships, invoice review, budget tracking, and outside counsel guidelines.
• Ability to manage a high volume of concurrent matters and deadlines with strong organization and exacting attention to detail.
• Ability to multitask and manage competing priorities in a fast-paced startup environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for working with outside counsel, inventors, and internal stakeholders.
• Discretion and sound judgment when handling confidential and privileged material, plus genuine interest in IP diligence, commercial contract IP terms, and litigation support.
• A sense of humor and a team mindset.

Nice to have

• Paralegal certificate, associate's degree in paralegal studies, or bachelor's degree.
• Direct experience with open source license compliance review and inventor recognition or patent rewards programs.
• Experience supporting IP diligence for M&A, financing, or commercial transactions.
• Litigation support experience, including discovery, document review, or case file management.
• Experience with IP portfolio analytics, competitive filing intelligence, landscape mapping, docketing platforms, IP management software, legal billing, or matter management systems.
• Experience at a high-growth technology startup and interest in artificial intelligence laws and regulations.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time hybrid role with locations in San Francisco and Washington D.C.
• U.S. employees receive equity, health, dental, vision, retirement, fitness, commuter, and dependent care benefits.
• Employees outside the U.S. receive benefits tailored to their region of residence.
• Role reports to the Director of Intellectual Property and offers exposure to AI and IP law with growth across an in-house practice group.