Bristows partner Myles Jelf reflects on the experiences and skills that have shaped more than 25 years in patent litigation
From carrying out laboratory experiments for his carbon-fibre composites research to joining Bristows as a patent litigator, partner Myles Jelf has built a career working on patent infringement cases and high-tech disputes for multinational companies. He also sometimes appears before the newly established Unified Patent Court (UPC). More than two decades on, it is the interesting nature of the work, as well as the people at Bristows, that has kept him on this career path.
For Jelf, a career in law began with a lunchtime poster at Cambridge Uni asking a simple question: “Have you ever thought of being a lawyer?” At the time, the answer was ‘Well that’s not something I have ever thought of…’. Having studied mechanical engineering at Imperial before completing a PhD and postdoc in materials engineering at Cambridge, Jelf had been immersed in the world of carbon-fibre composites. But after several years in academia, a change of direction was beginning to appeal. “I enjoyed being in the lab, but I felt it was something I could come back to in later life; I wasn’t sure it was right to be doing straight away,” Jelf tells Legal Cheek Careers.
The talk, given by Bristows, introduced Jelf to a career path that had not previously been on his radar. Initially thinking a broader commercial legal career might be the best fit, he secured a training contract with a magic circle firm, completed the law conversion course and LPC at Nottingham Law School, and began his training. It was during that period that intellectual property (IP) came back into focus. “This is something for people with a STEM background to be aware of when applying to big firms: while they will have a department and do some IP, there is no guarantee you will even get a training seat in that department. I was lucky as with 80 odd trainees in the cohort, there was only one IP training seat at a time” Jelf says.
After securing that IP seat, Jelf soon realised that IP was where he truly belonged. As qualification approached, an opportunity emerged at Bristows, and meeting the team helped confirm that it was the right place to continue his career in the field. “I went and thought these people were really good, doing cutting edge work, and also seemed really nice! I ended up coming across to Bristows on qualification, therefore, and have been here ever since.” More than 25 years later, he remains a patent litigation partner at the firm.
Raising the question of how useful his scientific background has proved in practice, Jelf notes “Having a technical background does help with some aspects of patent litigation, although the benefit is quite rarely having specialist knowledge of the precise technology in dispute. It’s more that a technical degree gives you a level of comfort with technical vocabulary and concepts.” There is also a broader crossover in approach. “The broader utility of a STEM background is problem solving,” he explains. “I found I was still applying a framework of knowledge to solving problems – just now it was a legal framework to solving client’s problems”
That does not mean the transition from academia to City law was seamless. Jelf recalls a “culture shock” after leaving a lab where the team would break for tea at 10:30 and 3:30. “Big City law works at a higher pace, is quite demanding, and a lot is expected of you. It took me a while to adjust to such a different environment.”
For students considering IP, Jelf stresses that there are several routes into the field. Solicitors, barristers and patent attorneys all work in the area, but their roles offer different experiences. Jelf was drawn to becoming a solicitor because of the team-based nature of the work, while noting that being a patent attorney is also “a very rewarding career path”.
Patent litigation itself usually centres on two questions: whether a patent is being infringed and whether it is valid. As Jelf puts it, “infringement asks whether someone is doing something that falls within the monopoly the patent confers, while validity asks whether the patent should have been granted in the first place”. Answering those questions requires lawyers to understand both the patent and the technology surrounding it. “You really need to steep yourself in whatever the technology is, whether it’s jet engines, mobile communications, or shampoo chemicals,” Jelf says. One case led to “a couple of happy years picking up shampoo bottles every time I found myself in the wash products aisle to look at the ingredients and identify secondary surfactants”.
The constant movement between technologies is one of the role’s main attractions. “In science, you tend to funnel into a niche area for your career. In my job now, I steep myself in an area for 18 months or two years and then move on to something completely different.” Working with expert witnesses is another highlight. Jelf recalls an MRI case involving an expert who had been part of the Nobel Prize-winning team behind the first MRI machine, as well as a case about the early days of CDs and DVDs. “Listening to these people explain their work is such a privilege.”
A more recent development is the UPC, a Europe-wide patent court whose rulings extend across 17 countries. Although the UK left the system following Brexit, Jelf says UK lawyers can still practise there, although they need to requalify in some respects. Bristows is now into its tenth UPC case, and Jelf has appeared before UPC divisions in Mannheim and the Hague. “Getting to grips with a brand-new court system has been genuinely exciting,” he says. “the court procedures are a true amalgam of different legal approaches, including DNA from the UK, German, and Dutch courts.”
Asked what has kept him at Bristows for more than two decades, Jelf comes back to the people and the firm’s culture. “There was a sort of glamour in coming to the top-ranked firm, but the reason I’ve stayed for over 25 years is the people and the core values. It is a very cohesive and collegiate atmosphere.”
For aspiring IP lawyers, the key qualities are not limited to scientific knowledge. Problem-solving and communication sit at the top of the list. “As a litigator, you have to communicate with a judge and explain your position in a persuasive, approachable way,” he says. Curiosity matters too. “People who do well usually have that spark of interest in what’s going on around them.”
For STEM students weighing up a move into law, Jelf’s final advice is to explore the different routes before committing. “Research the pros and cons of being a barrister, solicitor, or patent attorney,” Jelf says, while also considering whether litigation or transactional work is the better fit. The important point is that a technical degree does not lock applicants into one narrow future. Instead, it can provide a useful foundation for a career built around solving new problems, understanding unfamiliar technologies and, every so often, reading the back of a shampoo bottle!
Myles Jelf will speaking at ‘STEM Focus: Life as an intellectual property lawyer — with Bristows’, a virtual student event taking place Thursday 8 October. Secure your place now.
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