Careers at Mewburn Ellis

We welcome inquisitive minds, creative ideas, collaborative thinking and diversity...

As the forward-looking firm we strive for quality in everything we do, this includes fostering high-quality careers for our people. We want all colleagues to have long-lasting careers, that will stretch, challenge and reward. We have a culture that is open, inclusive and centred on learning and our goal is to help every individual reach their potential.

As a leading European IP Firm, we have a range of opportunities. Our people are approachable experts; curious and collaborative; able and adaptable. They are our greatest asset, and our continued success and strong growth is down to the contribution, dedication and ability of each one.

We are an inclusive employer and aim to ensure our workforce is representative of our diverse society. We welcome applications regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, neuro diversity or disability status, family or parental status, race, religion or ethnicity. We will always make reasonable adjustments and adaptations to our recruitment process to ensure it is inclusive for all. We may collect relevant data for monitoring as part of our candidate registration process. You can view our job applicant privacy policy here and you can find out more about our approach to diversity and inclusion here.

So, if you are curious and ambitious and would like to join us on our journey as we expand further in new and innovative ways, get in touch and become part of our success story. Read on to find out more about our people, our teams and our culture. We’re sure we are a firm you would be proud to be part of.

 

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A supportive and friendly environment

We work hard to maintain a collegial and welcoming atmosphere and as team players we are respectful and professional, but relaxed in our approach. We are ambitious and expect you to work hard and perform, but not without our encouragement, support and investment.

We promote a flexible, cross-office style to working, so we’re the one firm where everyone knows everyone else! This means opportunities to collaborate and share learning are numerous. This is further cemented by our commitment to the training and development of our people. Many of the partners trained here too and most have worked in all our offices, which builds a relaxed, informal environment where everyone feels integrated and included.

 

Meet the team WATCH OUR FILMS

Trainees at Mewburn Ellis

Life as a Trainee Patent Attorney means using your academic background in a stimulating and varied way, working on innovations and inventions at the forefront of your scientific field. At Mewburn Ellis we’re collegial, supportive and progressive. With an industry-leading training programme and a placement scheme that keeps learning fresh and insightful we ensure that you’re set up to develop quickly and learn about the profession from a variety of partners from day one.

See our Patent placement scheme here.

See our Trade Mark placement scheme here.

Trained for Excellence is one of our key values permeating our firm and underpinning who we are and our forward-looking, ambitious approach. The programme itself is unique offering a blend of professional education in conjunction with hands-on practical experience and the opportunity to work with diverse and exciting clients working at the cutting edge.

If you’re intrigued about this profession, you are ambitious and enjoy a challenge, read our brochure below to learn more about working in intellectual property. We promise you a rewarding career, stimulating work and a chance to be part of our growth story.

Patents

If you are curious, have a strong academic background in a relevant scientific discipline and excellent communication skills, especially in writing that’s a great start. General commercial awareness is also valuable but no prior knowledge of patent law is needed.

APPLY NOW

Life Sciences Trainee roles will open early 2027.

Trade Marks

Natural curiosity, strong academics and a penchant for the written and spoken word will serve you well in this role. Some relevant degrees we can consider are in Law, English (Language or Literature) or modern languages and you do not need in-depth knowledge of Trade Mark law to apply.

Trade Mark roles will reopen in September 2027.

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Our trainee brochures


Our guides (below) are intended to give you an idea of what it is like to work in intellectual property at Mewburn Ellis. We have tried to provide an honest feel for what the day-to-day work involves, we’re sure you would prefer the real picture before you invest your time and energy in applying for a career in which you could spend many years. Hear from our people, get ‘day in the life’ insights and find out what it takes to qualify. 

 

View UK Brochure
View German Brochure

Stimulating and rewarding work


We have a diverse client base that spans Europe, US, Japan, China, Korea and beyond. Ranging from individual inventors and start-ups to well-known global brands, they provide a variety of interesting and fulfilling work for our people, whatever the role. We work across all industries at the cutting edge of innovation, meaning you'll get to work with the organisations building the technologies and brands that will define tomorrow and impact throughout our daily lives.

We also enjoy significant client loyalty - 34% of our clients have worked with us for over 20 years.  This success is down to our people, their knowledge and expertise and importantly the long-standing relationships they build. Our people work closely with their clients, so much so that they are often considered an extension of their in-house team. Many of our attorneys also go on secondments at our client offices further nurturing these connections. So irrespective of the role you perform here, you will find us a stable, growing firm built on mutual respect and long-term loyalty. 

WHO WE WORK WITH

See our live opportunities

Front of House and Facilities Coordinator

Part-time, Bristol

IP Litigator

UK based

IP Renewals Administrator

Bristol or London

Trainee Patent Attorney, AI & Machine Learning

UK based

Trainee Patent Attorney, Physics

UK based

Trainee Patent Attorney, Quantum Algorithms

UK based

Can't find what you're looking for?

We value our people and their ideas and perspectives. We appreciate the new, diverse experiences they bring to us and in return we offer an inspiring place to work. We are always looking for people driven by curiosity, who have a desire to develop new skills and who enjoy a challenge. If you would like to send a speculative CV drop us a line at recruitment@mewburn.com stating you agree to us retaining your details for 12 months. You can refer to our Job Applicant Privacy Policy for more detail on how we store data.

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A healthy work life balance

We encourage a healthy work-life balance. Rather than expecting people to fit a certain mould, we strive to ensure that we provide the flexibility for our people to succeed in a way that suits them best.

We are a family friendly firm and offer enhanced family leave including adoption and shared parental leave, we have implemented a firmwide menopause policy and launched a Mental Health programme with a team made up of a diverse range of people from all offices and roles. We offer an industry-leading 30 days leave plus bank holidays. We also offer an additional leave day for charitable causes and we have an established D&I cross-functional focus group to drive further change in this important area.

At Mewburn Ellis we recognise that we have a responsibility to ensure we have positive impact on the people, communities and environment around us, and it’s something we take seriously.

 

THE MEWBURN ELLIS COMMUNITY PROGRAMME

Our Benefits Package

Blended office and home working approach

interest-free season ticket loan

30 Day leave (exc. bank holidays)

health scheme including Health assurance

Generous pension scheme

Enhanced family leave

cycle to work scheme

electric car scheme

Flexible working hours

workplace isa

Healthcare Cash Plan

care concierge

Note for agencies

Mewburn Ellis work with a select number of agencies to support our recruitment. CVs will only be accepted from agencies we have agreements with, and who have been briefed on the vacancy. We respectfully request that you do not to send speculative CVs, or candidate details, for current or potential vacancies.