Patent Attorney
Legal · Full-time
Auckland, New Zealand
About Halter
At Halter, we’re on a mission to enable farmers and graziers to run the most productive and sustainable operations. Our customers are using Halter to break free from the time-intensive constraints of conventional practices. Imagine watching 500 cattle stand up and walk calmly towards their next break? No quad bikes, no dogs, no fences. Just a group of cattle walking at their own pace. People say it looks like magic. Our customers are revolutionizing grazing with Halter. It's changing lives and transforming an industry. People join Halter to do meaningful work. By joining us you’ll be solving challenging problems within a talented team and a culture built for high performance. Our team out-think, out-work and out-care. We’re committed to delivering real change in the world - this isn’t easy, and in truth, we love that it’s hard.
We’re backed to deliver on a mission that matters by Tier 1 investors including Founders Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, BOND, DCVC, Blackbird, Promus Ventures, Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck and Icehouse ventures.
To find out more, visit our LinkedIn & Instagram.
About the role:
Five hundred cattle stand up and walk calmly to their next grazing area. No fences, no dogs, no quad bikes. People say it looks like magic. It is actually solar-powered collars, satellite and mesh connectivity, and machine learning that knows when a cow has eaten enough, how much pasture is left, whether she is healthy, and even who her friends are. Most of this technology did not exist five years ago. We invented it, and we are not slowing down.
You won’t be billing your life in six-minute increments, polishing other people's ideas. At Halter you sit inside a world-class engineering team that ships novel radio protocols, bespoke electronics, firmware, and machine learning at a rapid pace, and we are filing aggressively to hold our global lead. Your job is to find the inventions, sometimes before the engineers realise they have made one, and lock them in.
You will be the second member of our IP team, which means you get to shape how this is done. You’ll bring the patentability analysis, drafting, and prosecution firepower, and you will build the scalable, AI-enhanced systems a rapidly expanding portfolio needs. Expect to spend real time with engineers, reading design docs and code, asking questions until you actually understand how it works, and turning what you find into claims that hold up.
We are adding 500 roles in the next year. That is a constant firehose of new ideas and products.
What your day could look like:
Partner with engineering teams to identify patentable, commercially valuable inventions and draft specifications and claims across firmware, software, machine learning, electronics and mechanical systems.
Manage patent prosecution end to end, including examination responses, amendments and strategy, with support from external counsel.
Lead freedom-to-operate clearances, working closely with the engineers building the technology.
Develop AI-enhanced tools across the IP function. We already use AI heavily and want someone excited to take this further.
Join hackathons, uncover patent whitespace, spend time on-farm—and never fill in a timesheet.
You'll crush this role if you:
Have circa 5-10 years’ experience as Patent Attorney or Patent Engineer.
Bring strong technical expertise, or serious interest, across software, electronics or machine learning. We’ll teach you the cow part.
Have a real curiosity about how things work. You will dive into design documents and code to find inventions before they are even written down, and keep asking engineers questions until you actually understand it.
Have solid experience in patentability assessments, drafting, and prosecution, plus freedom to operate and invalidity work.
Have the itch to automate. You see a manual process and you want to kill it.
Are comfortable working self-directed. You figure out what needs doing and do it.
Bonus points if you have:
A background or real interest in agriculture and agricultural technology.
A legal background or litigation experience.
An appetite to get stuck into anything you think might matter to Halter, whether or not it says IP on it.
Our Benefits:
Delicious snacks and drinks are available for your daily flow.
Healthy body, healthy mind. We're partnered with Southern Cross Health Insurance to support your well-being.
We offer 6 months of fully paid parental leave for primary caregivers, 4 weeks of fully paid secondary caregiver leave and many other parental benefits that support you and your family.
Our personal growth is important. Halter offers an annual $1000 self-development budget to be used for anything that fuels personal growth.
Our time to recharge is valued, we're offered wellness leave and unlimited paid annual leave.
Importantly, we offer an inclusive and attractive remuneration package made up of salary, benefits and an employee stock ownership plan.
Our Office First Approach:
Humans are wired for connection. Being office first is a core pillar of our culture because in-person connections drive your growth, learning, impact, and relationships. Strong relationships make it easier to disagree, give feedback, and do meaningful work together.
We're office first, not office only. Working from the office is our default, but we flex when needed. We have a high-trust culture where everyone is trusted to do what's best for Halter.
Our office vibe is special, the high energy and spectacular people make work enjoyable. Your growth and impact are unlimited here, coming from solving problems, innovating, and constantly learning from each other.
Join our team
Halter is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace — a place where we can each be ourselves and do the best work of our lives. Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the requirements, women and under-represented groups of candidates tend to only apply when they meet every requirement. If you think you have what it takes but don’t necessarily tick every requirement on this job description, please still get in touch and apply to Halter. We’d love to chat to see if you’ll be an epic fit!
If this opportunity sounds like you, please apply below by sending through your cover letter explaining why you’re excited about this role and working at Halter, along with your CV, and we’ll be in touch!
Please also feel free to check out the careers page for more information on working at Halter and don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn & Instagram.
Why our team loves working at Halter:
Work that genuinely matters. Every now and again a company comes along that transforms an entire industry and leaves the world in a better place. Our team gets to be part of something truly meaningful, helping farmers improve their livelihoods, spend more time with their families, and build more sustainable operations.
Spectacular people solving hard problems. Our culture is designed for talented people to do work that changes lives. The team is filled with diverse, kind, and driven people who push each other to do their best work. You'll be thrown into the deep end, tackling complex challenges and building something tangible that solves real problems.
You'll grow here. Autonomy, mastery, and learning define how we work. You'll have the freedom to work on interesting problems, master new skills, and continuously develop yourself, both through your role and our $1,000 personal growth fund.
This isn't easy, and we love that it's hard. Working at Halter will be the most rewarding and the most challenging work of your life. We move fast, take bold bets, and work hard to reshape an entire industry. As one team member put it: "Joining Halter is a bit like strapping yourself to a rocket ship, but it's an epic journey to be a part of!"