Patent Agent (AI)

Location: San Francisco, CA, United States; hybrid with a minimum of 3 days in the office per week.

Salary: $135,000–$200,000 base salary per year, plus performance bonus and equity.

Company

hirify.global is a San Francisco-based AI hardware–software company building interfaces that capture, structure, and utilize intelligence from conversations and other real-world interactions.

What you will do

• Manage the full patent lifecycle for software, algorithm, and AI-related inventions, including invention disclosures, specifications, claims, prosecution, and office action responses.
• Develop defensive and offensive patent portfolio strategies around core technologies and benchmark coverage against leading telecom and AI portfolios.
• Advise R&D and legal leadership on whether innovations should be protected through patents or trade secrets.
• Conduct prior art searches, patentability assessments, freedom-to-operate analyses, and competitive landscape research for US, European, and Chinese markets.
• Coordinate with outside counsel and global patent agencies while reviewing filing instructions and office action strategies.

Requirements

• Licensed Patent Agent with 4+ years of professional experience, including at least 2 years of hands-on patent drafting and prosecution at a patent law firm.
• Experience drafting software and algorithm patents using flowchart-based and functional claim language.
• Hands-on experience with prior art searches, patentability assessments, and freedom-to-operate analysis using professional patent databases.
• Working knowledge of prosecution procedures in at least two of the USPTO, EPO, and CNIPA, including office action responses and claim amendments.
• Fluent English and Mandarin are required.
• Familiarity with docketing or IP management systems, strong technical fluency, and comfort working with ambiguity.

Nice to have

• Experience as a patent examiner in communications, software, or AI-related art units.
• Knowledge of AI/ML patent eligibility issues, including the Alice/Mayo framework and European CII guidelines.
• Experience designing trade secret programs or IP classification frameworks.

Culture & Benefits

• Opportunity to join the founding team of a fast-growing initiative with meaningful ownership and impact.
• Top-tier medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents.
• 401(k) plan with company matching for full-time employees.
• Unlimited PTO, 13 paid holidays, and 12 weeks of paid new-parent leave.
• Choice of high-end laptop and workstation setup, annual offsites, commuter benefits, and office refreshments.