Global IP Legal Counsel - Associate Director

The opportunity

We are looking for a proactive, business-oriented intellectual property (“IP”) lawyer to join our global in-house team of experienced commercial and technology lawyers to advise senior EY business stakeholders on complex IP legal issues.

The Global Legal Counsel – Intellectual Property, a member of the Contracts Practice Group (CPG) within the Global General Counsel’s Office (GCO), will be responsible for providing advice, counsel, and legal support related to trademarks, patents and IP more broadly, in support of the global network of EY member firms. This position will help support and enable the EY “All In” strategy, both in terms of brand protection and in terms of protecting and promoting IP developed by the business. This position will require extensive experience providing legal advice on IP matters in a global context. 

This position, which can be based in London or Manchester, UK, or in various US locations, sits within a globally distributed team of lawyers, and requires the ability to team positively and proactively with business partners across EY, including Brand, Marketing and Communications (“BMC”), technology teams, Independence, Tax, Finance, and other legal professionals around the world. The role will require strong communication and collaboration skills to enable working in a positive and productive manner across a complex global organization to achieve positions that align with the best interests of EY.

Your key responsibilities

This role reports to a senior member of the Global GCO CPG team, and the successful candidate will perform activities including the following:

Intellectual Property

• Providing comprehensive legal advice on all IP matters, including contentious IP matters.
• Advising EY business stakeholders on their IP rights, potential risks, and best practices across all relevant forms of IP (including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets).
• Developing IP strategies to align with business stakeholders' strategic objectives, including advising on the evolution of the EY network's fundamental IP-sharing arrangements.
• Working with members of GCO and business stakeholders to support legal and governance frameworks from an IP perspective
• Developing and implementing customized IP protection strategies for business stakeholders 
• Supporting due diligence for IP transactions and M&A activities.
• Providing guidance on cybersecurity in an IP context.

Copyright

• Enhancing strategy for licensing and ownership of copyright throughout the EY global network.
• Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating licensing and assignment agreements.
• Responding to ad hoc queries on copyright including:
  • Reviewing release forms.
  • Drafting and reviewing copyright notices.

Trademark Management

• Working closely with the EY BMC team, coordinating and protecting the EY trademark portfolio, including (with support from local external counsel):
  • Conducting trademark searches to assess availability.
  • Advising on trademark selection, registration and maintenance issues.
  • Making applications for trademark filings and renewals with relevant authorities.
  • Reviewing and advising on the status of oppositions.
  • Reviewing and advising on third party trademark filings that potentially infringe EY trademarks.
  • Advising on enforcement of trademark rights through litigation and negotiation.
  • Advising and reviewing requests for names of new services, solutions and strategic initiatives and assessing any potential legal conflicts.

Patents 

• Working with senior leadership to refine patent strategy to support the evolving business in an evolving market.
• Assisting business stakeholders in drafting patent applications, adhering to legal standards.
• Conducting patentability assessments and infringement risk analyses.
• Providing opinions on patent infringement issues.
• Advising business stakeholders in patent portfolio management.

General

• Management of external counsel and third-party service providers.
• Teaming and collaboration with the broader EY Legal team (both within Global GCO and EY Network Member legal functions), and other EY business advisors (Risk Management, Information Security, Tax and Finance), building positive working relationships and supporting EY’s consultative culture.
• Effectively prioritizing and managing workload in a highly dynamic environment; proactively communicating and demonstrating a high degree of responsiveness.
• Developing and delivering training on IP legal matters to the Legal and business stakeholders.

Skills and attributes for success

The successful candidate will need to balance first-rate work quality and attention to detail, with the ability to provide timely and business-practical legal advice on complex IP matters. A strong understanding of IP laws, current market knowledge related to technology, a strong ability to manage multiple competing priorities in a compressed timeframe and the gravitas required to interact on a regular basis with senior members of the organization will all be critical success factors for this role.

To qualify for the role, you must

• Have extensive, recent and relevant experience on providing business-practical legal advice on complex IP matters and managing IP portfolios across a number of jurisdictions.
• Have a Law degree (LLB or J.D.) or equivalent.
• Have at least 8-10+ years’ post-qualification experience (more experienced candidates will be considered).
• Be admitted as a solicitor or licensed attorney in a relevant jurisdiction.

Ideally, you’ll also have

• Expertise in the legal considerations relevant to complex and emerging technologies (including general purpose and agentic AI). 

What we look for

• Outstanding communication skills, both oral and written.
• Excellent negotiation and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to grasp, understand, and effectively articulate and document complex legal principles.
• Positive mindset, a high degree of emotional intelligence, and demonstrated resilience and flexibility, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and dynamics.
• Interest and the ability to team and collaborate effectively across geographic locations.
• We are open to applicants with private practice and/or in-house experience. 

• Continuous learning: You’ll develop the mindset and skills to navigate whatever comes next.
• Success as defined by you: We’ll provide the tools and flexibility, so you can make a meaningful impact, your way.
• Transformative leadership: We’ll give you the insights, coaching and confidence to be the leader the world needs.
• Diverse and inclusive culture: You’ll be embraced for who you are and empowered to use your voice to help others find theirs.