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Intellectual Property Lawyer Jobs

Find the best intellectual property (IP) lawyer jobs in London and the rest of the UK
Team Non-Billable
Last updated:
January 10, 2025

What do intellectual property lawyers do?

Intellectual property (IP) lawyers specialise in protecting, enforcing and managing their clients’ rights over intangible assets.

These include things like inventions, brands, creative works, designs, and confidential information. This helps their clients control, benefit from, and defend their intellectual property.

IP lawyers typically handle matters in the following areas:

  • Patents: Filing patent applications, licensing patented technology, and dealing with disputes..
  • Trademarks: Registering trademarks, monitoring for infringement, and taking enforcement actions against unauthorised use.
  • Copyright: Advice clients on ownership rights, licensing deals, and enforcement against piracy or unauthorised copying.
  • Design Rights: Lawyers help register designs, negotiate licensing agreements, and handle disputes where a design has been copied without permission.
  • Trade Secrets and Confidential Information: Help clients safeguard trade secrets, including recipes, manufacturing processes, and confidential strategies.
  • IP Disputes and Litigation: Many matters involve disputes over infringement, ownership, or licensing breaches.
  • Commercial IP Work: IP lawyers also focus on transactions, such as licensing IP rights, drafting commercial contracts, or negotiating IP provisions in mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures.

Typical day-to-day tasks for an IP lawyer might include preparing licensing agreements or assignments of IP rights, preparing and submitting trademark and patent applications, and working with litigation lawyer colleagues on enforcement matters and disputes.

What is the average salary for an intellectual property lawyer?

Intellectual Property lawyers at the leading London law firms can expect to earn between £100,000 - £125,000 at the junior end of the associate scale (up to 2/3 years’ PQE).

Mid and senior-level associates can expect to earn north of £150,000.

We have a list of salaries paid by all of the UK’s top law firms here.

Which firms are the best for intellectual property in London?

IP law covers several different areas, as outlined above. Some law firms are particularly noted for their expertise in specific areas and not in others so it’s worthwhile spending some time looking into each area in more detail.

Bird & Bird is generally considered to be the UK’s leading IP law firm.

Other leading firms include Bristows, CMS, Mischcon de Reya, Gowling, and Taylor Wessing.

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