About the Job
At Lyft, our purpose is to serve and connect. We aim to achieve this by cultivating a work environment where all team members belong and have the opportunity to thrive.
This position will manage Lyft's patent function — driving the strategy and day-to-day management of our patent portfolio — while also advising on the company's approach to open source, reviewing technical publications before they go external, and serving as a trusted advisor on IP questions across the business. Thi...
Key Responsibilities
Own the patent portfolio end to end for the company — invention harvesting, invention disclosure meetings, portfolio mining, and directing patent application preparation and prosecution by outside patent counsel.
Drive patent strategy and drive filing, continuation, and abandonment decisions based on technical merit, competitive landscape, and cost, and own portfolio health and reporting against product roadmaps.
Counsel and collaborate with engineering on open source license review and approval for inbound and outbound open source, including license compatibility and compliance risk.
Review papers, blog posts, conference talks, and other public technical disclosures for IP and confidentiality risk and relevant counseling.
Provide broad-based strategic and portfolio advice as well as counseling key stakeholders in protecting and defending IP rights worldwide.
Support IP diligence for partnerships, M&A, and vendor relationships.
Train and educate product and engineering teams in intellectual property matters, and build tools, policies, and processes that scale with the business.
5+ years of patent prosecution experience in a relevant area; in-house patent portfolio building/management experience a plus.
Experience advising on open source license compliance.
Must be a member of the Patent Bar and have substantial understanding of patent law outside of litigation.
Must be proactive, self-directed, detail oriented, organized, and have exceptional communication skills.
Adaptable and positive under shifting priorities, with the flexibility to move between deep legal work and lighter-touch, high-volume counseling on any given day.
Demonstrate AI fluency and comfort using AI tools in day-to-day work.
JD required.
BS or MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent technical field.
State bar membership.
Eligible to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Sense of humor and comfort with shifting priorities.
