Series 1224

Patent Examining

Patent examiners who review patent applications and decide whether inventions qualify for a patent. Jobs are with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

1200 Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group · General Schedule

See open 1224 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 15
Open now: 0
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Rising
Demand score: 29/100
Remote opportunity score: Not enough data
Veteran opportunity score: 47/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-7 to GS-15

Most common promotion potential: GS-13

GS pay plan, used by 100% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$183,257 to $197,200 per year

Median of the yearly salary ranges in posted announcements.

Who can apply

Share of job postings in the last 12 months, by who the announcement was open to.

Open to the public: 47%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 53%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 0%
Telework eligible (open now): No postings open now
Fully remote (open now): No postings open now

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of Commerce (15)

Top states

Virginia (7)

Hiring patterns

Based on job announcements since Mar 2017. How patterns are calculated

Postings by fiscal year

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal years 2025 and 2026 include the government-wide hiring freeze that began in January 2025.

Job announcements for series 1224 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	25
FY 2019	31
FY 2020	26
FY 2021	17
FY 2022	28
FY 2023	46
FY 2024	41
FY 2025	40
FY 2026	8

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 1224 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	0
Jan 2026	0
Feb 2026	0
Mar 2026	0
Apr 2026	0
May 2026	0
Jun 2026	0
Jul 2026	0
Aug 2026	8
Sep 2026	0
Oct 2026	7
Nov 2026 (month to date)	0

1220 Patent Administration 24 postings in 12 months
1222 Patent Attorney 13 postings in 12 months
1210 Copyright 8 postings in 12 months
1221 Patent Adviser 4 postings in 12 months
1223 Patent Classifying 2 postings in 12 months

About this data

Job numbers come from the USAJOBS API: 244,223 job announcements opened from December 1, 2025 to November 15, 2026, plus 12,260 announcements open on November 15, 2026. Canceled announcements are not counted. Series descriptions summarize the OPM Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families.

These figures describe posted job announcements, not hiring outcomes. Always read the official announcement and its qualification requirements before applying. How the scores are calculated.