Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Cookies Settings

Key contacts
Managing Partner: Hugh Goodfellow
Dispute Resolution: Ian Kirby
Engineering & Technology: John Brunner
Life Sciences Pharmaceuticals : Matthew Georgiou
Life Sciences Biotechnology: Mark Chapman
Trade marks: Roger Lush
Transactions: Jake Marshall
Quick facts
Established

1776

Number of partners

33

Number of IP Practitioners

167

Key practice areas
Intellectual property
Patent disputes
Patent litigation
Trade mark disputes
Trade mark litigation
Trade mark
Patent
Patent prosecution
IP transactions
Patent disputes - patent & trade mark attorney firms
Trade mark disputes - patent & trade mark attorney firms
Trade mark disputes - law firms
Patent prosecution - patent & trade mark attorney firms
Firm overview

Carpmaels & Ransford LLP is a leader in the European IP market, having driven innovation in the industry for over 200 years. The firm advises clients on all aspects of intellectual property including drafting, filing and prosecuting patent and trade mark applications, drafting and negotiating licence agreements and other commercial IP agreements, advising on the transfer of property rights, assisting clients with patent restoration matters and conducting enforcement and revocation litigation.

The firm has one of Europe’s largest intellectual property teams serving blue-chip clients across the globe. The firm’s attorneys have considerable technical knowledge, bringing together experience from industry-leading companies, academic research at leading universities, and extensive patent expertise in the areas of engineering and tech, chemistry and materials, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, supplementary protection certificates and information communications technology and standards.

Through the firm’s fully integrated Dispute Resolution and Transactions teams, the firm is able to provide a holistic service for clients which supports their IP needs from inception to commercialisation. The Dispute Resolution team, comprised of experienced solicitors, barristers and patent attorney litigators, represents clients at all levels of the European Patent Office (EPO).The team is also adept at conducting enforcement litigation and revocation actions before the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and patent, copyright, trade mark and other IP litigation in the English courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Carpmaels & Ransford is one of the few firms that can use the same team to handle parallel disputes in the EPO, UPC, and UK courts, while also coordinating national actions across Europe. The firm is perfectly positioned to represent clients at the UPC and is leading the first revocation action at the new court.  

As well as advising on the acquisition and licensing of IP rights, and other IP focused agreements, (such as development and collaboration agreements), the Transactions Team manages multi-jurisdictional patent/trade mark assignment recordal projects, provides specialist advice on the transfer of priority rights and assists clients with the restoration of registered IP rights around the world.

Practice Areas & Sector Specialisations

Key IP Areas

Copyright & related rights, Designs, Intellectual property (contentious), Intellectual property (prosecution), IP transactions, Life sciences IP, Patent, Patent contentious, Patent prosecution, Trade mark, Trade mark contentious, Trade mark prosecution

Key Sector Expertise

Aerospace, Aerospace, Artificial intelligence, Automotive, Biotechnology, Chemical, Computer technology & services, Construction & materials, Defence, Electronics, Fashion & luxury goods, Film, Financial services, FMCG, ICT & software, Life sciences, Mechanical, Media, Medical device, Optics & photonics, Pharmaceutical, Renewable energy, Semiconductors, Robotics, Technology hardware, Agriculture

Address:
One Southampton Row
London WC1B 5HA
Tel:+44 20 7242 8692 Email:Contact Us Web Address:https://www.carpmaels.com
2026 Edition
IP transactions
Other Notable Firms
37 firms ranked
View full list

Tier 1

A&O Shearman
10 practice areas
View full profile
Bird & Bird
10 practice areas
View full profile
Bristows
8 practice areas
View profile
Gowling WLG
9 practice areas
View full profile
Simmons & Simmons
9 practice areas
View full profile

Tier 2

CMS
10 practice areas
View profile
Covington & Burling
5 practice areas
View profile
Fieldfisher
10 practice areas
View full profile
Pinsent Masons
9 practice areas
View profile
Winston Taylor
10 practice areas
View full profile

Tier 3

Addleshaw Goddard
7 practice areas
View full profile
Anderson Law
5 practice areas
View profile
Browne Jacobson
8 practice areas
View full profile
Cooley
7 practice areas
View profile
Freshfields
6 practice areas
View profile
Goodwin Procter
5 practice areas
View profile
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader
7 practice areas
View full profile
Norton Rose Fulbright
5 practice areas
View full profile

Other Notable Firms

Arnold & Porter
5 practice areas
View profile
Ashurst
6 practice areas
View profile
Baker McKenzie
8 practice areas
View full profile
Brabners
6 practice areas
View profile
Carpmaels & Ransford
13 practice areas
View full profile
Clifford Chance
4 practice areas
View profile
Dechert
5 practice areas
View profile
Keystone Law
5 practice areas
View profile
Kirkland & Ellis
7 practice areas
View full profile
Lewis Silkin
10 practice areas
View full profile
Linklaters
6 practice areas
View profile
Mishcon de Reya
9 practice areas
View full profile
Osborne Clarke
10 practice areas
View full profile
RPC
6 practice areas
View profile
Reed Smith
6 practice areas
View profile
Shoosmiths
8 practice areas
View profile
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
3 practice areas
View full profile
Stephenson Harwood
8 practice areas
View profile
Wiggin
10 practice areas
View profile
Patent disputes - patent & trade mark attorney firms
Tier 1
10 firms ranked
View full list

Tier 1

Carpmaels & Ransford
13 practice areas
View full profile
EIP
7 practice areas
View full profile
HGF Law
9 practice areas
View full profile

Tier 2

Marks & Clerk Law
9 practice areas
View full profile
Potter Clarkson
10 practice areas
View full profile
Venner Shipley
9 practice areas
View full profile

Tier 3

Haseltine Lake Kempner (HLK)
8 practice areas
View profile

Other Notable Firms

Dehns
8 practice areas
View profile
J A Kemp
14 practice areas
View full profile
Mewburn Ellis
8 practice areas
View full profile
Patent prosecution - patent & trade mark attorney firms
Tier 1
30 firms ranked
View full list

Tier 1

Barker Brettell
7 practice areas
View full profile
Boult Wade Tennant
5 practice areas
View full profile
Carpmaels & Ransford
13 practice areas
View full profile
D Young & Co
5 practice areas
View full profile
Dehns
8 practice areas
View profile
HGF
9 practice areas
View full profile
Haseltine Lake Kempner (HLK)
8 practice areas
View profile
J A Kemp
14 practice areas
View full profile
Kilburn & Strode
6 practice areas
View full profile
Mewburn Ellis
8 practice areas
View full profile
Potter Clarkson
10 practice areas
View full profile
Venner Shipley
9 practice areas
View full profile

Tier 2

EIP
7 practice areas
View full profile
Elkington + Fife
5 practice areas
View profile
Gill Jennings & Every
5 practice areas
View full profile
Marks & Clerk
6 practice areas
View full profile
Mathys & Squire
8 practice areas
View full profile
Maucher Jenkins
5 practice areas
View full profile
Reddie & Grose
5 practice areas
View full profile
Withers & Rogers
5 practice areas
View full profile

Tier 3

Appleyard Lees
17 practice areas
View full profile
Greaves Brewster
6 practice areas
View full profile
Keltie
6 practice areas
View profile
Murgitroyd
6 practice areas
View full profile
Wilson Gunn
5 practice areas
View profile

Other Notable Firms

Abel & Imray
4 practice areas
View profile
Beck Greener
7 practice areas
View full profile
Hoffmann Eitle
4 practice areas
View profile
Schlich
4 practice areas
View profile
Slingsby Partners
5 practice areas
View profile
Trade mark disputes - patent & trade mark attorney firms
Tier 2
12 firms ranked
View full list

Tier 1

HGF Law
9 practice areas
View full profile
Haseltine Lake Kempner (HLK)
8 practice areas
View profile
Marks & Clerk Law
9 practice areas
View full profile
Potter Clarkson
10 practice areas
View full profile

Tier 2

Carpmaels & Ransford
13 practice areas
View full profile
D Young & Co
5 practice areas
View full profile
Stobbs IP
6 practice areas
View full profile
Venner Shipley
9 practice areas
View full profile

Tier 3

Appleyard Lees
17 practice areas
View full profile

Other Notable Firms

Dehns
8 practice areas
View profile
Kilburn & Strode
6 practice areas
View full profile
Mewburn Ellis
8 practice areas
View full profile
Trade mark prosecution - patent & trade mark attorney firms
Tier 3
30 firms ranked
View full list

Tier 1

Barker Brettell
7 practice areas
View full profile
Boult Wade Tennant
5 practice areas
View full profile
D Young & Co
5 practice areas
View full profile
HGF
9 practice areas
View full profile
J A Kemp
14 practice areas
View full profile
Kilburn & Strode
6 practice areas
View full profile
Marks & Clerk
6 practice areas
View full profile
Potter Clarkson
10 practice areas
View full profile
Stobbs IP
6 practice areas
View full profile

Tier 2

Appleyard Lees
17 practice areas
View full profile
Cleveland Scott York
4 practice areas
View profile
Dehns
8 practice areas
View profile
Haseltine Lake Kempner (HLK)
8 practice areas
View profile
Keltie
6 practice areas
View profile
Maucher Jenkins
5 practice areas
View full profile
Mewburn Ellis
8 practice areas
View full profile
Murgitroyd
6 practice areas
View full profile
Venner Shipley
9 practice areas
View full profile

Tier 3

Carpmaels & Ransford
13 practice areas
View full profile
Gill Jennings & Every
5 practice areas
View full profile
Mathys & Squire
8 practice areas
View full profile
Reddie & Grose
5 practice areas
View full profile
Wilson Gunn
5 practice areas
View profile
Withers & Rogers
5 practice areas
View full profile

Other Notable Firms

Abel & Imray
4 practice areas
View profile
Abion
5 practice areas
View full profile
Beck Greener
7 practice areas
View full profile
Elkington + Fife
5 practice areas
View profile
Forresters
7 practice areas
View profile
Greaves Brewster
6 practice areas
View full profile
Testimonials

2026

"Top notch advice on EPO practice and strategy.  Carpmaels provides outstanding strategic advice on prosecution strategy and SPC strategy.  A go to firm for EPO prosecution issues."

"Very experienced team. Well structured and organized. Excellent at coordinating pan-European litigation. Very responsive, thoughtful and strategic."

"Meticulous attention to detail. Practical advice. Excellent technical depth."

"They have the best team to work with on EP opposition and appeal work. Extremely talented and experienced. They also have a top-class team of litigators and we work with them on pan-European litigation/coordination. We most appreciate the close collaboration we experience in all the work we are doing with them."

"Highly collaborative, technically proficient, business-minded and practical in their approach. They strive to match the client's business mindset, pace, and objectives and it shows."

"Again, Carpmaels focuses their advice on practical, real-world outcomes, not armchair, academic perspectives.  They strive to understand the client's business objectives and broader context before offering up advice."

David Holland

"Extensive knowledge of SPC strategy. Top-notch counselor."

Jennifer Antcliff

"Very good case oversight. Brings in the right resources to handle the case also in case of unexpected complexities. Very responsive, smart and experienced."

Stephen Duffield

"Great coordinator of international litigations, brilliant pleadings in European oppositions and appeals."

James Warner

"One of the best you can get for EP opposition/appeal work. Very deep knowledge of case law and excellent in areas were the case is still in development. Very clear and concise in hearings. Great team player and works excellently with his internal team as well as with clients."

Isobel Barry

"Isobel is extremely smart, competent, and understands very complex technical matters. She is very organized and responsive. She also highly values diversity."

Paul Bettridge

"Paul excels with creative, yet practical, solutions to IP challenges.  Paul has a superb grasp of IP law and a strong business acumen, that allows him to meet the client's needs without delving into wasteful, overly academic approaches."

 

2025

"They are approachable and tailor their advice to each scenario. They have a wealth of expertise and a great network; you know they will get the work done."

"Expertise, efficiency and collaboration."

"They are smart, highly responsive, professional and very knowledgeable. They listen very well and understand a client's needs and deliver well-measured advice, in particular regarding the risk-benefit calculus of any decision, whether it be simple or complex."

"[Carpmaels & Ransford] is the most experienced firm for the purpose of coordinating pan-European patent litigation strategies. Also, they have wide experience in prosecuting patents before the EPO."

"[They are] very strategic, not overdoing, but rather providing focused approaches."

"[They are] highly competent, efficient and proactive."

"The team are enthusiastic about the work they do; this always comes through in our meetings with them. They have good attention to detail and respond very quickly, which is especially important to us in the fast-moving venture space."

"What stands out about Carpmaels & Ransford is their deep expertise, personalised service, and seamless integration with our internal IP operations. Their exceptional skill, diligence, and adaptability make them an indispensable partner in executing our IP strategy effectively."

"They are well-versed in the law, have science expertise, are responsive, and get the best result possible. Importantly, they are 'thought partners' and discuss issues in detail."

"[They are] efficient and to the point, providing accurate analysis of patentability, chances of success and strengths and weaknesses in the arguments."

"They have a great team of very capable and knowledgeable attorneys, especially in pharmaceuticals. They also know a lot about the inside perspective of the pharmaceutical industry and have even a lot of regulatory knowledge."

"They work in a very collaborative way with in-house IP teams. Carpmaels & Ransford do care for their people and attorneys [in terms of] development, workload, mental health, diversity, etc."

"All team members are extremely skilled and knowledgeable. I like how they fit in with our in-house counsel to form a very well-functioning team. They always see and consider the bigger picture and have a strong strategic focus."

"Brilliant minds, detail-orientated, and an absolute joy to work with."

"Clever, switched on and responsive."

"The proven track record, the wide experience in the pharmaceutical sector and the friendly human touch of their lawyers."

"I work mostly with Harvey [Adams] and Natalia [Wegner] and have been very impressed by their work and strategic thinking."

"The firm's attorneys are very competent and responsive. They provide excellent legal and strategic advice on complex European matters."

"[They have] an in-depth expertise in the subject matter and ensure that legal decisions are considered from the company strategy perspective."

Harvey Adams

"I would like to specifically call out the expertise of Harvey Adams, with whom I have been working for more than 20 years. During that period, I have given him some of the most complicated patent situations on important products that I have ever encountered, both with regard to oppositions and drafting and prosecution strategy.

"With regard to oppositions, his record of success is unmatched based on my experience with other law firms, and his creativity, tenacity, and success in obtaining and defending high-value patents are second to none."

Jake Marshall

"Jake Marshall is responsive to requests but also provides proactive management of matters and adds value by providing additional resources to aid the negotiation.

"The can-do approach is most helpful for in-house counsel who are often pulled in multiple directions at the same time. Jake makes it both easy to work with him and easy to see the required next steps and execute those steps, whether reviewing drafts or preparing for meetings. This makes him a go-to resource."

 

2024

"Great people to work with. Stable long-term interactions with the same people. Very capable."

“High-quality work and excellent attorneys.”

“[They are] well versed in chemical and biological matters and European patent law,” said a pharmaceutical sector client who praised the firm’s patent attorneys for their “rapid response” and ability “pinpoint key issues in proceedings”.

“They offer a high-quality work product. Very well organized, easy to work with, and excellent attorneys and administrative support.”

"They provide advice on IP portfolio which supports both business success and portfolio success."

 

2023

"We appreciate the straightforward fees and advice. Contract work is done promptly and on time with estimates of fees accurately scoped or discounted to fit pre-agreed budget, and the senior partner cares to meet with the client and get to know even our smaller startups with deals of around $1 million per annum."

"We value the very high quality of work, the deep engagement with the technology being borne in mind, and the suggestions for creative solutions that are in line with specific business goals."

25 results25 results
1
of
2
Practitioners say the UK Supreme Court’s decision could boost the attractiveness of the UK for AI companies
A settlement involving Disney and another ruling concerning a lawyer’s request for access to documents were also among the big developments
Bird & Bird, Brinkhof and Bardehle Pagenberg were successful at the Court of Appeal, while there was a partial victory for Amazon in a case concerning audio recordings
The court ordering a complainant to rank its arguments in order of potential success and a win for Edwards Lifesciences were among the top developments in recent weeks
Three new partners have joined HGF across its offices in Europe, while Carpmaels & Ransford has made UPC-focused hires in Germany
In major recent developments, a confidentiality request was rejected, Samsung and its representative A&O Shearman secured a partial win, and EIP made a new hire
Half-year Talent Tracker data shows Pierson Ferdinand was among the most prolific hirers in the US, while in Europe, there has been a notable UPC swing
Developments included a stay in a row concerning the UPC’s jurisdiction and a timeline for the rollout of the long-awaited new CMS
Sponsored

Sponsored