Branding, merchandising and sponsorship services

Brands are big business.  They not only carry with them recognition, goodwill and reputation, but also add significant value to a business or organisation.

It follows then brand strategy is integral to any business or organisation. Key to a successful brand strategy is ensuring that the right intellectual property protection has been obtained.

This is an area where there are many pitfalls. These include the following:

• There is an increasing number of trademark applications. Increased trade on the internet means that more companies are seeking global registration of trademarks, thus increasing the spend on registrations significantly.
• Failing to carry out adequate searches into whether a mark is already in use may result in an applicant’s failure to secure registration and / or open up a risk of infringement proceedings.  Application fees for unsuccessful trademark applications are not refunded.
• There is often a lack of understanding of what constitutes a trademark - for example, logos, shapes, smells, sounds, colours and pictures – and this can often hinder the effective and holistic management of a brand.
• Following the UK Intellectual Office reforms of 2007, there are a greater number of oppositions to trademark applications.  This is putting significant pressure on applicants to ensure their trademark applications have the greatest chance of being registered successfully.

How Hill Dickinson can work with you

Hill Dickinson’s brands team includes fully qualified and experienced intellectual property lawyers supported by a dedicated trademark administrator.  They form part of our intellectual property team, which can be called upon for wider intellectual property capabilities and expertise. This means that our clients benefit from a one-stop solution to trademark portfolio management and related intellectual property issues.

Hill Dickinson’s brands team work closely with clients to obtain a full understanding of their businesses and aspirations for merchandising and the commercialisation of trademarks. Our trademark lawyers regularly advise on the commercial exploitation of brands, including through licensing and franchising arrangements.

Our sponsorship experience includes working with businesses and organisations seeking sponsorship, as well as many sporting businesses and organisations, events organisers, independent television and radio production associations and others with an interest in sponsorship.

Our areas of expertise include the following:

• Due diligence – Hill Dickinson’s brands team conducts full searches at the outset of an application to ascertain whether or not a proposed mark has the necessary distinctive characteristics and is likely to be successfully registered.  We give full consideration to a client’s current and / or proposed usage, taking into account pre-existing marks and competitors’ marks.
• Registration - Our experienced trademark lawyers draft bespoke specifications, and consider the relevant and appropriate jurisdiction for registration, from the UK and European Union to worldwide.
• Monitoring - Using software created to provide a unique intellectual property management system, Hill Dickinson’s brands team offers to our clients an accumulated trademark renewal reminder and portfolio management service.  We also offer a watching service so that clients are notified if a trademark application similar to their own is filed anywhere in the world.  This service can also be extended to company name registrations.
• Enforcement - Our specialist trademark lawyers will handle infringements through litigation or dispute resolution. 

Our experience in the intellectual property field includes advising The Liverpool Culture Company Limited and Liverpool City Council as Official Lawyers to Liverpool ’08, European Capital of Culture. This involved the team advising on all manner of intellectual property matters, both contentious and non-contentious.  

Hill Dickinson was the organiser and promoter of the North West Top 100 Brands Awards for 2007 and 2008, in association with the CBI and the Chartered Institute of Marketing.   Our trademark lawyers are also members of the Licensing Executives Society and other trademark-related associations.