Mewburn Ellis has announced that Deborah Bould will join the firm as a Partner on 1 September 2026, bolstering its Engineering and Technology practice and further expanding its patent litigation capabilities across the UK and Europe. The move continues the firm’s strategy of building a contentious intellectual property offering capable of handling complex, multi-jurisdictional disputes, including those arising under the Unified Patent Court (UPC) regime.
Bould is a veteran patent litigator with more than 25 years of experience focused on patent dispute resolution and standard-essential patent (SEP) assertions. Her work has covered a wide range of emerging technologies, notably the Internet of Things, where connectivity and interoperability issues often require careful management of patent and licensing risk. She has advised clients on litigation, arbitration, mediation, licensing compliance programs, and freedom-to-operate reviews, frequently in matters spanning multiple jurisdictions. Her experience includes developing enforcement and defense strategies across key international markets, including the United States, China, and various European jurisdictions, which is increasingly important for businesses facing coordinated patent actions and parallel proceedings.
Over her career, Bould has acted in high-profile patent disputes for clients in sectors such as technology, industrials, energy and natural resources, consumer goods, and retail. Bringing this breadth of sector experience to Mewburn Ellis adds further depth to the firm’s contentious IP practice, particularly in disputes that cut across standard-setting, licensing, and product portfolios. Her arrival is intended to enhance the firm’s ability to support clients navigating complex, cross-border patent disputes and SEP-related issues, including fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing questions that often sit at the centre of modern technology litigation.
The appointment builds on a period of growth for Mewburn Ellis’ disputes team. In recent years, the firm named life sciences and healthcare specialist Camilla Balleny as Head of Patent Litigation, bringing nearly twenty years of experience and leading the development of its patent litigation offering. This was followed by the addition of Amy Crouch, who has significant experience in high-profile life sciences patent litigation in Europe, and more recently Aled Richards-Jones, whose practice focuses on patent and supplementary protection certificate (SPC) litigation, particularly in the life sciences sector. Together, these hires have expanded the firm’s coverage across life sciences, biopharmaceuticals, and now engineering and technology, positioning Mewburn Ellis to act across a broad spectrum of patent disputes.
The timing of Bould’s arrival coincides with growing recognition of Mewburn Ellis in external rankings. The firm has recently received new recognition for Patent Disputes and Trade Mark Disputes in the 2026 IP STARS rankings from Managing IP, as well as strong results in the IAM Patent 1000 litigation rankings. These accolades reflect continued investment in patent litigation talent and capabilities and underscore the firm’s ambition to be a leading player in contentious IP work across Europe. Against the backdrop of the UPC’s development and evolving case law on issues such as SEPs and cross-border enforcement, the firm is positioning its litigation team to advise clients through what it describes as a “new era” of European patent litigation.
KEY QUOTES:
“Deborah brings the kind of specialist litigation expertise and international perspective that our clients need. Her arrival is another important milestone as we continue to build out our IP offering. She joins a team that has grown significantly over the past year, and her expertise complements the strong foundation we are continuing to build in patent litigation. Deborah’s extensive experience in complex patent disputes, particularly in standards essential patents and multi-jurisdictional litigation, will be hugely valuable to our clients. Her appointment further strengthens our ability to support businesses navigating high-stakes disputes in the UK, Europe and internationally.”
Richard Johnson, Chairperson, Mewburn Ellis
“Deborah joining our litigation team is extremely exciting. The firm has made strong inroads in European patent litigation over the last few years. This was turbo-charged in the biopharmaceutical space by Camilla, Amy and Aled joining us last year and complementing our world-class life science patent opposition bench. Now with Deborah joining, we will be able to service our clients across the full spectrum of technology patent litigation in Europe, especially in the SEP and FRAND space, and across a wide spectrum of sectors, from video codecs and data transmission, to IoT and AI, and next generation engines. This will be incredibly valuable to our clients in these emerging technology sectors and a hugely synergistic boost to our rapidly expanding Engineering and Technology contentious practice.”
Sean Jauss, Head of Legal Services, Mewburn Ellis
“I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Mewburn Ellis at such an exciting stage in the development of its impressive litigation practice. The firm’s Engineering & Technology team is second to none; I’m looking forward to adding further depth to that team and working with outstanding colleagues across the firm to help clients resolve complex patent disputes and protect their innovation in key markets, including before the UPC.”
Deborah Bould, Incoming Partner, Engineering and Technology / Patent Litigation, Mewburn Ellis
