Catherine Howell is an IP Solicitor at EIP with extensive experience of proceedings in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. She specialises in complex, multi-jurisdictional patent litigation.
Catherine’s practice covers FRAND and SEP disputes, technical patent litigation, and strategic advice on jurisdiction and confidentiality issues. She has acted for clients in landmark cases such as Unwired Planet v Huawei & Samsung, Conversant v Huawei & ZTE, and Optis v Apple and has recently been involved in several UPC actions.
Catherine has a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Bristol, an MSc in the Management of Intellectual Property from Queen Mary, University of London and Postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice from the University of Oxford.
She is an active contributor to the IP community. Catherine is currently serving on the AIPPI UK Events Committee and has previously held the position of Chair and Social Secretary of IPSoc. She is recognised as a “Rising Star” by Managing IP for five consecutive years and was named a “Trailblazer” by WIPR Diversity. In addition, she was awarded the AIPPI UK prize for best contribution to a study question on preliminary injunctions. She is also a frequent speaker at IP events, for example presenting FRAND updates to an audience of 200 at the Young EPLAW conference and on access to court documents at Young AIPPI Seminar.
Experience
- Unwired Planet v Huawei & Samsung [HP-2014-000005] / Conversant v Huawei & ZTE [HP-2017-000048]: Catherine played a key role in the first instance, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court cases in Unwired Planet v Huawei & Ors FRAND case and Conversant v Huawei & Ors jurisdiction challenge. These actions established the FRAND injunction remedy for Standard Essential Patent infringement and affirmed the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales to hear such FRAND disputes. Additionally, she worked on technical trial B for Unwired Planet and the anti-suit applications brought by both Conversant and Unwired Planet during these actions. Trial judgment references: Unwired Planet: [2016] EWHC 94 (Pat), [2017] EWCA Civ 266, [2017] EWHC 2988 (Pat), [2018] EWCA Civ 2344, [2020] UKSC 37. Conversant: [2018] EWHC 808 (Pat), [2019] EWCA Civ 38, [2020] UKSC 37.
- Conversant v Apple [HP-2018-000022]: Catherine acted for Conversant in technical trials A and B; patent validity and infringement actions concerning user interface and Bluetooth patents. Trial judgment references: [2019] EWHC 3266.
- Optis v Apple [HP-2019-000006]: Catherine is part of the team running the Optis v Apple UK action alongside high-value litigation between the parties in the Eastern District of Texas and US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Catherine was primarily involved in the FRAND trial which was heard in July 2022 including the exceptional Court of Appeal victory whereby the licence fee due to Optis was set at $700M+ (including interest). In addition, Catherine led the team representing Optis on confidentiality matters in the High Court and Court of Appeal. She was also part of the core team for technical trial B, a SEP trial which involved a novel “estoppel” defence concerning declarations of essentiality to the relevant standards body. Trial judgment references: [2021] EWHC 1739 (Pat), [2021] EWHC 2694 (Pat), [2022] EWCA Civ 792. and [2023] EWHC 1095 (Ch), [2025] EWCA Civ 1263.
- Alcatel v Amazon / Amazon v Nokia [HP-2023-000038]: Catherine was the lead Managing Associate representing Alcatel and Nokia in an action against Amazon concerning implementation patents and SEPs essential to the ITU-T Recommendations. This was one of several actions filed by Nokia against Amazon worldwide. Catherine worked on the preparation of statements of case for filing, jurisdiction challenge and the interim licence trial.
- Xiaomi v ASUS [HP-2025-000046]: Catherine acts for ASUS in the recent action filed by Xiaomi concerning 4G and 5G SEPs and the ETSI FRAND commitment.
Published articles
Education
-
2018 — 2019
Postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice, University of Oxford -
2014 — 2015
Legal Practice Course, BPP University -
2013 — 2014
Graduate Diploma in Law, BPP University -
2012 — 2013
MSc in Management of Intellectual Property, Queen Mary, University of London -
2009 — 2012
BSc Biochemistry, Bristol University
Career history
- 2023 — present
Managing Associate, EIP - 2020 — 2023
Senior Associate, EIP - 2017 — 2020
Associate, EIP - 2015 — 2017
Trainee Solicitor, EIP
Awards and recognition
- Awarded AIPPI UK prize for best contribution by a junior member to a study question on preliminary injunctions.
- Ranked as "Rising Star", IP Stars 2025 (link)
- 'Catherine Howell is an experienced and organised associate who is able to manage complex litigation and applications in her own right. A rising star.’ - Legal 500 UK 2026 (link)
- Ranked as "Rising Star", IP Stars 2024 (link)
- Ranked as "Rising Star", IP Stars 2023 (link)
- Ranked as "Rising Star", IP Stars 2022 (link)
- Ranked as "Rising Star", IP Stars 2021 (link)
- Ranked as 'Trailblazer', WIPR Diversity, 2021 (link)
- Ranked as "Rising Star", IP Stars 2020
- Ranked as "Rising Star", IP Stars 2019
Languages spoken
- Welsh