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From the scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs to the attorneys and lawyers that support them, and the teams of paralegals, secretaries, and operations specialists that in turn support them. We have a vast ecosystem of women in the IP industry, all of which play an invaluable part. Mewburn Ellis value these women, and as a firm that’s made up of over 60% women - know how vital they are and we want to encourage more women to thrive in innovation and in business
Women in IP
We work with lots of women scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs. Our focus is on working with them to guide them through their IP challenges and meet their needs in a way that works best for them. We also want to encourage more female entrepreneurship in general. For example, it is recognised by the patent offices that women are massively underrepresented on patent applications. The European Patent Office recently found that fewer than one in seven inventors were women. There are lots of reasons that contribute to this, but it means that as a society we’re not capitalising on women’s ideas. This is a huge, missed opportunity. We want to encourage more women to thrive in business.
The proportion of women in Intellectual Property law also continues to lag behind that of their male counterparts all over the world. An increase in the amount of female representation at all levels is not just desirable but essential. Despite significant advancements in gender diversity within the profession over the decades, there are still challenges that impact women IP attorneys, and this is reflected in the number of women in senior roles. Enabling and encouraging women to enter the IP profession must be an ongoing effort and it’s essential that once they do join, that we help them do great work and to stay in the profession for the long haul.
We actively participate to support women in the IP industry and beyond:
Women at our Firm
We launched our Women of Mewburn Ellis network (WoMEn) in November 2022. This community quickly grew to over 100 members (over 28% of the firm), with women and allies from across the business; from trainees through to board members, and covering both fee earners and business services. The group is led by Partner Fran Salisbury (our “Women’s Champion”), supported by a diverse collaboration group made up of twelve women. The community aims to champion women within the firm and the broader IP community.
Whilst we do not think there is discrimination against women at the firm, or a problem to “fix”, we do think there is room for further development, empowering women to be the best that they can be. The first stage in establishing the network has been about information gathering, asking WoMEn what they thought, and asking what they need in order to thrive. This led us to develop our WoMEn Network strategy with a focus on championing women within the firm and improving their working lives as well as to encourage conversation about women and between women at the firm.
In November 2022 we launched our WoMEn of Mewburn Ellis Network which is led by our Women's Champion Fran Salisbury. She is responsible for leading the development and implementation of our Women's strategy and ensuring the firm maintains focus and momentum on this important topic.
Fran leads the WoMEn Network Collaboration Group, which is made up of twelve women from across the firm. The group is a cross section from trainees through to board members and covers both fee earners and business services. This broad range of ages, experience and roles makes this a rich and diverse group to champion women within the firm and the broader IP community.
There doesnt seem to be a network for all women in IP. We think this is a gap that should be filled! We're in the process of setting up the WoMEn in IP Network. This will be an online community where all women working in IP can come together and support eachother. We're building an online platform that will enable us to chat, share stories and information, find resources, access events and generally support eachother. It's coming soon so please do let us know if you would like to get involved. Please email frances.salisbury@mewburn.com to register your interest.
We are a firm that is committed to diversity of thought, ideas and viewpoints and where all our people, regardless of their background, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability or sexual orientation feel they belong.
We published our gender paygap data before we had to and also publish our diversity statistics.
As part of our commitment to women at the firm we allocate community funds to specifically support women's charities.
These charities are nominated and voted for by our women’s group the WoMEn of Mewburn Ellis Network. Each charity has received a donation of between £3,000-£5,000. We have donated £33,000 to women's charities since 2022.
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Senior Associate, Patent Attorney
Senior Associate, Patent Attorney
Head of HR
Partner, European Patent Attorney
Chief M&BD Officer, Community Champion
IP Support, Paralegal
Partner, Chartered Trade Mark Attorney
Women's Champion, Partner, European Patent Attorney
Associate, Lawyer
Associate, European Patent Attorney
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