Mark Bell

Background

Mark is a partner of the firm and handles a wide variety of high-tech physics and engineering work. He has significant experience in handling cases involving particularly complex subject matter, including quantum computing and nuclear fusion.

As well as a European and UK (Chartered) Patent Attorney, Mark is an Authorised Representative before the Unified Patent Court (UPC). Mark holds a Masters in Physics and a DPhil in High Energy Particle Physics, both from Oxford University. He joined Dehns in 2007.

Type of clients and client work

Mark’s work involves representing clients and handling patents in a wide variety of high-tech physics and engineering fields, including quantum computing circuits and hardware, quantum computing software and algorithms, nuclear fusion, nuclear decommissioning, graphics processing, satellite technology, solid state lighting and pressure regulation.

Mark acts for clients of a variety of sizes, from start-ups, university spin-outs and SMEs all the way through to multinational corporations, with a particular focus on small and medium sized technology companies for whom their patent portfolios are one of their major assets. Mark prides himself on the relationships he builds and maintains with the clients, such that he is a trusted adviser for them on all matters IP.

He has experience in drafting new patent applications, prosecuting these applications to grant before the UK and European Patent Offices, and also handling international patent portfolios. He also files registered designs in the UK and Europe, as well as providing strategic advice regarding the infringement and validity of patents and designs.

Expertise

Mark’s expertise lies in handling complex inventions involving high-tech physics and engineering. Multiple patents that Mark has drafted have underpinned the intellectual property behind several high-profile spin-out companies, such as First Light Fusion, ORCA and Oxford Quantum Circuits.

Mark is able to bring a combination of his professional experience and his academic background to fully understand mind-bendingly complicated inventions. Mark has been repeatedly sought out for this expertise, by clients the world over.

His work involves advising clients on IP strategy and due diligence, and has performed a number of reviews of patent portfolios, both for SMEs and investors. He has also undertaken a number of analytics and investigation projects, advising clients on patent landscaping and competitor filing strategies.

Qualifications and Memberships

• Authorised Representative before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) 2023
• Basic Litigation Skills Course, 2017
• UK Chartered Patent Attorney, 2012
• European Patent Attorney, 2011
• Certificate in IP Law, Brunel University, 2008
• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys
• Member of the European Patent Institute

Mark regularly attends FICPI (International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys) events and is co-chair of the Business Development and Marketing Committee of FICPI’s Practice Management Committee.

Higher Education

DPhil, Particle Physics, University of Oxford, 2007

MPhys (First Class) Physics, University of Oxford, 2003

Mark’s DPhil research involved studying the decay of sub-atomic particles (charm and beauty mesons decaying semi-leptonically to electrons) in the large scale ZEUS detector on the HERA electron-proton accelerator at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg.

Other

Mark is regularly highlighted for the quality of his work in various legal and IP directories and receives highly positive praise from his clients; recent client testimonials from the 2025 edition of The Legal 500 include:

 – ‘Mark Bell is a phenomenal patent attorney; a technical expert in physics with a deep understanding of IP matters makes him a unique capability as I would label him as a scientist first who understands the intricacies of the law, rather than an attorney who knows some technical stuff.’

 – ‘Mark Bell is an excellent attorney with a solid grasp of the technical subject matter underlying our inventions and products. They provide comprehensive advice on how to navigate matters at hand.’

 – ‘Mark Bell: clarity of communications is first-rate. I value their responsiveness and commitment to providing value to our clients. I am also appreciative of their willingness and availability to discuss matters by phone upon request.’

Mark was recognised in the IAM Patent 1000 2025 edition, which highlighted his “extensive experience in patenting complex physics inventions. He quickly understands the technology and brings invaluable insights into the best way to achieve protection. Mark is extremely informative, supportive and diligent throughout the whole process, bridging the technical and legal aspects seamlessly to provide the best possible advice.”

Mark was also recognised in the IAM Patent 1000 2023 edition, with feedback from peers and clients noting: “We have worked with Mark for over 10 years, and he has successfully prosecuted patents for us in a number of jurisdictions. Mark has been eminently competent, capable, approachable and personable at all times. He is very knowledgeable and can provide good advice as needed. His service is consistently diligent. Mark is reliable, informed and an excellent communicator, and has demonstrated himself to be eminently capable of constructively addressing any challenge.”

Mark was recognised as a “Notable Practitioner” in the 2025, 2023, and 2022 edition of Managing Intellectual Property’s IP Stars publication. Mark has previously been recognised as a “Rising Star” in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 editions of the publication. He has also been recommended in the 2017 edition of The Legal 500 directory, where he was singled out for his “ability to understand novel new physics related inventions and quickly transpose them into a clear and understandable documents, ready for patent filing”. Mark was again singled out in the 2018 edition for his work with the US lighting products company Cree on its European patent applications.

Mark was named as a “Leading Partner” in the 2026 edition of the The Legal 500. He has also retained the position of “Key Lawyer” of the firm in the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025 editions of The Legal 500.

In the 2023 edition of The Legal 500, one of his clients commented: “We work with Mark Bell, who has looked after our IP portfolio for nearly 10 years now. He is always very responsive, thoughtful and communicative.”

On the back of Mark’s article “Obtaining patents for artificial intelligence and machine learning in Europe”, published in November 2018, Mark was contacted by the American Bar Association (ABA) and invited to give a talk to their members on “Patenting Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Europe”; the feedback he received from the webinar participants was all “Excellent”.

Mark is a prolific writer of technology and IP articles, in addition to him featuring in numerous Dehns podcasts. See below for his articles and podcasts.