Associate General Counsel, Patent Prosecution
Posted Aug 7, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
This role is at North Chicago. How does that fit your life?
What they are checking: Honest fit with the location the posting states.
What would you do
How do you manage outside counsel so you get the quality you want at the cost you planned?
What they are checking: The posting names prosecuting both directly and through outside counsel.
How do you counsel an R&D team that wants to publish something you would rather file on first?
What they are checking: The permanent tension between science and patent strategy in a pharmaceutical company.
How do you deliver an opinion a business team does not want to hear?
What they are checking: The core of in-house counsel work, and whether they will do it plainly.
About the work
Tell me about your patent prosecution practice and the technologies you have worked in.
What they are checking: The posting is a prosecution role, and the technical field decides whether they can do it.
This role covers India. What do you know about Indian patent practice and what makes it different?
What they are checking: The posting names India in the title, and Indian practice has its own rules on patentability.
Walk me through drafting a claim set for an application you want to be strategically useful.
What they are checking: The posting says strategically useful patent applications, not merely granted ones.
Tell me about defending a patent in a post-grant proceeding.
What they are checking: The posting names IPR, opposition, interference and other post-grant proceedings.
Walk me through analyzing a third party's patent position.
What they are checking: The posting names prior art searches, analyzing third-party positions and due diligence.
Tell me about your bar admission and patent bar registration.
What they are checking: The posting requires a JD from an accredited law school, so credentials are confirmed plainly.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by AbbVie.