Formalities Manager in Defence Intellectual Property Rights

Stoke Gifford, South West England, BS34 8JH

Formalities Manager working within the Intellectual Property Rights Formalities Team within DIPR.

DIPR gives professional advice and direction to the MOD (and other Government departments) on patents, trademarks, copyright, design rights and commercially confidential information, contractual IPR provisions and licences, and international collaborative and manufacturing agreements.  Within DIPR, the Formalities Section provides a timely and professional registered intellectual property rights formalities service and support to a busy team of patent and trade mark attorneys based in Bristol, Salisbury, Cheltenham and London.

1) Management of the Formalities Team providing support and guidance to MOD patent and trade mark attorneys, including line management of 2 other formalities officers.

2) Monitoring and response to communications received by the Formalities Team, delegation where appropriate, to include processing of all official actions completed by attorneys.

3) Oversight of all formalities work and monitoring of deadlines, including cross checking for accuracy of work, spot checks on the integrity of the patents and trade mark database and mentoring and supporting junior formalities staff.

4) Responsibility for preparing and filing UK, EP and PCT applications online, or manually if the application is at a high security classification, and responsibility for instructing/completing national phase filings via MOD’s foreign associates in the desired territories.

5) Inputting and management of the integrity of data within the patents and trade mark database (CPI), including but not limited to: updating the system with new actions; removing completed actions when instructed to do so by attorneys; and entering cost tracking data.

Mandatory Qualifications:

Applicants must hold the Patent Examination Board Introductory Certificate of Patent Administrators.

Applicants must hold the Patent Examination Board Introductory Certificate of Patent Administrators

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Developing Self and Others
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• IPR6 (Practitioner Level) – Is able to prepare documents to support patent or registered designs and trade mark applications world-wide (NB design and TM not essential for this post)

Alongside your salary of £43,080, Ministry of Defence contributes
£11,631 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

The post does not offer relocation expenses. 

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period. 

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed. 

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.  

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. 

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.  

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights. 

Open to UK nationals only.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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Job contact :

• Name : Jackie Northcott
• Email : jackie.northcott958@mod.gov.uk
• Telephone : 030 679 32860

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk