Flint Bishop has appointed Deborah Niven as partner and head of intellectual property as part of a strategic recruitment drive across its northern division. Based in Sheffield, she joins from gunnercooke LLP and brings more than 25 years’ experience advising on the protection, commercialisation and management of intellectual property and technology assets.
Niven’s client base spans PLCs, owner-managed businesses, university enterprise centres and spin-out companies, as well as technology businesses, software developers, manufacturers and creative enterprises. In her new role, she will lead the strategic development of the intellectual property team, oversee delivery of IP services firmwide and support colleagues on matters where intellectual property intersects with corporate transactions and disputes.
Malcolm Simpson, managing partner (north), said: ‘Deborah’s appointment represents a significant step in the ongoing development of our commercial services,’ adding that ‘intellectual property is increasingly critical for our clients’ and that ‘we are confident she will strengthen collaboration across our teams’.
Niven said: ‘I am delighted to be joining Flint Bishop at such an exciting period of growth for the firm,’ adding: ‘Together, we have a real opportunity to support innovation-led businesses and further strengthen the firm’s commercial capabilities’.
