Rakuten Symphony is reimagining telecom, changing supply chain norms and disrupting outmoded thinking that threatens the industry’s pursuit of rapid innovation and growth. Based on proven modern infrastructure practices, its open interface platforms make it possible to launch and operate advanced mobile services in a fraction of the time and cost of conventional approaches, with no compromise to network quality or security. Rakuten Symphony has operations in Japan, the United States, Singapore, India, South Korea, Europe, and the Middle East Africa region. For more information, visit: https://symphony.rakuten.com

Building on the technology Rakuten used to launch Japan’s newest mobile network, we are taking our mobile offering global.

To support our ambitions to provide an innovative cloud-native telco platform for our customers, Rakuten Symphony is looking to recruit and develop top talent from around the globe. We are looking for individuals to join our team across all functional areas of our business – from sales to engineering, support functions to product development.

Let’s build the future of mobile telecommunications together!

About Rakuten Rakuten Group, Inc. (TSE: 4755) is a global leader in internet services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Founded in Tokyo in 1997 as an online marketplace, Rakuten has expanded to offer services in e-commerce, fintech, digital content and communications to approximately 1.5 billion members around the world. The Rakuten Group has over 27,000 employees, and operations in 30 countries and regions. For more information visit https://global.rakuten.com/corp/.

Job Description

[Rakuten Symphony India]* has an exciting and excellent job opening for an IP Counsel/IP Specialist specialising in the telecommunication/standardization field. The IP Counsel/Specialist would be located in Bengaluru.

As a member of Rakuten Symphony India (a key entity for the Rakuten Symphony Brand), the Intellectual Property Counsel/Specialist would work closely with R&D leaders, IP team members, and engineers in India, Singapore, Japan, and USA, along with other cross-functional global Symphony teams to proactively protect our telecommunication/cloud/software and standards related inventions, oversee the patent preparation, filing, prosecution and maintenance process, and provide required IP support services.

Job Responsibilities:

• Own and drive BU-aligned patent portfolio strategy and governance: Build strong working relationships with Business Unit stakeholders to understand product/technology roadmaps; ensure accurate portfolio taxonomy/classification and maintain portfolio hygiene to enable clear reporting, benchmarking, and decision-making.
• Lead end-to-end portfolio execution, resourcing, and optimization: Translate innovation pipelines into filing plans and timelines; coordinate with internal IP counsel and external attorneys (including strategic selection/management) to deliver high-quality filings and perform ongoing portfolio/value assessments to identify gaps, redundancies, and opportunities for strengthening the portfolio.
• Independently and proactively collaborating with engineering teams to extract inventions, patentable matters and ensure comprehensive patent protection.
• Understanding technical and legal aspects of the inventions and finding quality patentable subject matter for patent filing.
• Working as key member for all IP activities, particularly, patent activities (patent preparation, patent filings, review of drafts and documents, patentability analysis, claim strategy, prosecution, claim charts, portfolio management, freedom to operate analysis).
• Managing standard essential patent (SEP) portfolio and devising appropriate strategies, in association with the standards delegates, to ensure efficient handling of patent applications and their prosecution.
• Coordinating with outside counsels and other stakeholders for patent filing and prosecution related matters.
• Supporting patent licensing projects, ensuring alignment with business objectives while mitigating 3rd party risks and maximizing the value of the company’s intellectual property portfolio.
• Brainstorming with product leads and engineering teams on improving patent filing activities and targeting key technology areas.
• Proactively guiding the R&D teams and product teams on intellectual property processes, working on increasing IP awareness and encouraging invention submission activities within different groups.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities)

• Qualified Indian Patent Agent with 4 to 7 years of relevant experience in building intellectual property portfolio/ patent development (preferably in an in-house team or law firm).
• A bachelor’s or equivalent degree in electrical/electronics engineering, computer/IT/software engineering, or telecommunications engineering.
• Experience in cloud, software, AI, telecommunications and networking technology areas. Exposure to 5G and 6G domains and SEP (O-RAN Alliance and/or 3GPP) is preferred.
• Must have a knack of mining patentable inventions from pool of data.
• Experience in patent drafting and prosecution across multiple jurisdictions. Proficiency in US, EP, and IN patent laws is preferred.
• Ability to analyze patent portfolios/claim charts and identify potential licensing opportunities or infringement risks.
• Capable of working independently and as a part of a team and efficiently handling multiple priorities.
• Possess strong professional judgement and a sense of ownership.
• Excellent written and oral communication, and networking skills to influence and manage multiple stakeholders.
• A degree in law would be a plus.

Industry

Telecommunications

Employment Type

Full-time

Job Functions

Legal

Location

Bengaluru