IP Law Expert
Mercor • Remote
Education
Any
Type
hourly
Pay Rate (by country)
$100–$120/hr
Listed
78d ago
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About this Role
From the Mercor listing
Role Overview
Mercor is partnering with leading AI labs on Project Atlas — an initiative to build realistic enterprise environments that frontier AI agents are trained and evaluated in. We're seeking experienced intellectual-property attorneys from AmLaw 100/200 firms and Fortune 500 in-house IP teams to recreate the digital workspaces they navigate every day and design the tasks that genuinely challenge state-of-the-art AI.
- Build a realistic digital workspace centered on the Drive folders you use day-to-day — the client memos, patent / trademark drafts, prior-art search results, opinion letters, licensing agreements, docket printouts, and email threads that reflect how you actually organize your work — with some representation of the platforms that support it (e.g., Westlaw / LexisNexis, HotDocs, Relativity)
- Design multi-step tasks grounded in your real workflows — structured around end-to-end client engagements (origination, prosecution/strategy, ongoing counseling, enforcement/litigation) — that require navigating multiple apps, files, and stakeholders in a way that meaningfully challenges frontier AI agents
- Collaborate with other IP attorneys in your field to design the environment, shape task scope, and review each other's scenarios for realism and rigor
- Work asynchronously with research teams to refine task designs and evaluation criteria for IP-law agent benchmarks
- Contribute to frontier AI research and benchmarking — the work you produce directly informs how leading labs train and evaluate the next generation of AI systems
- JD and active bar admission; USPTO registration for patent practitioners
- 3+ years of full-time IP experience at an AmLaw 100/200 firm or Fortune 500 in-house IP team
- Background in one or more areas such as:
- Patent prosecution (utility, design, PCT) — tech, life sciences, or mechanical
- Trademark prosecution and portfolio management
- IP litigation (district court, PTAB, ITC) or post-grant proceedings
- IP licensing, due diligence, and transactions
- Trade-secret and IP enforcement strategy
- Day-to-day use of Westlaw / LexisNexis, HotDocs or Contract Express, and Relativity
- Strong analytical thinking and writing — able to translate legal workflows into structured task specs
- You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
- This is a fully remote role that can be completed on your own schedule.
- Projects can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
- Your work at Mercor will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
- Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
- Please note: We are unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.
Requirements
- Must be eligible to work in Remote
- Fluent proficiency in English (Written & Verbal)
- Reliable high-speed internet connection
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience
- Demonstrated expertise in Writing
Why This Role
Rare opportunity for top 1% experts. Earn $110/hr contributing to the world's most advanced AI labs. This is one of the few roles where academic precision is valued as highly as commercial output.
Skills & Categories
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mercor for freelancers or full-time contractors?
Mercor places you with one client for a defined engagement, like 'Python Tutor for 3 months', rather than having you grab small tasks from a shared queue. Most roles function as steady contract work, not one-off gigs.
Does Mercor's application require an on-camera interview?
Yes, every applicant records a video interview with an AI interviewer that asks questions about your resume. Clients review that recording to judge communication skills before matching, so there's no way to apply without going on camera.
Does it cost money to apply to Mercor?
No, applying and joining Mercor is free. Mercor's revenue comes from a fee it charges the client on top of your hourly rate, not from applicants. Treat any request for payment to join as a red flag.
Is AI training work the same as traditional consulting?
No. Instead of client deliverables, you're given complex scenarios to evaluate: grading the AI's logic, correcting its hallucinations, and supplying expert-level reasoning it doesn't have on its own. The job is closer to teaching than consulting.
Why do these AI training roles pay so much?
Because general knowledge isn't what's being tested. The model already knows the basics; what it needs is expertise on edge cases, the rare, difficult, highly technical judgment calls only a senior professional in the field would make correctly.
What does the day-to-day workload look like for elite-expert AI training roles?
Slow and deep, not fast and repetitive. A single task can take 45-60 minutes of researching citations or verifying complex calculations. Quality is what's being measured here, not throughput.
What does Writing work look like for a IP Law Expert?
Tasks here are scoped to Writing, not generic labeling. As a IP Law Expert, expect to draw on real domain judgment (evaluating outputs, correcting errors, or providing expert reasoning specific to Writing) rather than following a one-size-fits-all rubric. If you don't have hands-on Writing background, this is likely not the right listing to start with.
What happens when I click Apply on this listing?
You'll be taken to Mercor's external site to complete your application there. This listing links through a referral, but the process is identical to applying directly; the link just routes you correctly. Create an account on their site and follow their onboarding steps.
How soon will I start working after applying to Mercor?
Not immediately. Mercor is a talent marketplace, not a task queue, so applying puts you in a pool of candidates. You start working only once a specific client, like a major AI lab, selects your profile, and that matching process can take weeks.