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Trade marks and brand management

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Your brand is what helps to distinguish you from your competitors and carries the values that you stand for – it’s your identity in the business world. It’s more than just a name or symbol for your products and services – it’s the emotional bond that your customers have with you. It needs to be carefully protected.

How our intellectual property lawyers can help you

We can offer you a full spectrum of brand services, from filing a trade mark application, to licensing your registration and to pursuing an infringement claim on your behalf.

We can help you with brand selection and management, brand exploitation and enforcement of brands.

We go beyond trade marks and work with you to examine, enhance and protect your branding at all levels; registered and unregistered trade marks, as well as any tie-in (or not!)  with domain names.

We work with and support you in all aspects of your trade mark, domain name and brand management concerns. We can be there every step of the way in ensuring our solutions work for your business. We can give you a complete in-house brand management service which extends from the selection and adoption of your new brand, through to protection by registration and enforcement of the rights you acquire in the brand. You’ll work with experts who realise what is at stake for your business and the legal issues involved.

We work in a commercially-focussed way and understand the importance of budget management to you, especially when it comes to expenditure on branding. To enable you to monitor costs and budget effectively we have developed a range of fixed fee services.

  • Our clients

    Our significant clients include Coats PLC, Boodle & Dunthorne, Coffee Republic Retail and Rayware We work with businesses of all sorts including retailers, service providers, goods manufacturers, sports organisations, convention and exhibition organisations. Our experience is deep and wide-ranging so you can be sure that your trade marks and brand management issues are in trusted hands.

  • Our experience

    • Acted for Princes Ltd against the appeal raised by Etablissements Paul Paulet relating to the previous revocation of a patent in 26 European jurisdictions by the European Patent Office
    • Trade mark portfolio management for a wide variety of clients including a homeware retailer, a coffeehouse chain and a prominent cruise line
    • Licensing and assignment arrangements put in place as part of corporate transactions, including transitional brand licence agreements and partial assignments for carve-outs
    • Acting for a manufacturing business, in connection with the prosecution of contended international trade mark applications, including the defence of opposition proceedings and the filing of cancellation actions, in various international territories
  • FAQs

    How can you help us with brand selection and management services? 

    Brand selection and management services include:

    • making sure you are free to use a new brand, including clearance searches for new trade marks, logos and internet domain names
    • advising on and helping you to develop strategies for the protection of your trade marks, registered designs and domain names both in the UK and internationally
    • providing ‘watching services’ of your competitors’ activity worldwide in respect of registered and unregistered rights, including company name and internet domain name registrations
    • reviewing your existing brand ownership strategies to help you to get optimum brand protection for minimum cost
    • advising on branding risks e.g. being liable for “passing off”

    How can you help us to exploit our brands? 

    Brand exploitation can help you to maximise brand value. We can help you to develop your brand by:

    • drafting and negotiating licences so that it is very clear how the brand can be used and what permissions are being granted
    • helping you to decide the best approach for the sale or purchase of companies and/or assets where brand value is a significant factor
    • handling endorsements and sponsorship deals
    • registering trade marks or domain names (or company names)

    How can you help us with brand enforcement? 

    Enforcement of brands is essential to protect the good name and value of your business. We can support brands by:

    • helping brand owners to enforce their rights against infringing third parties, including counterfeiters, copycats and cyber squatters
    • acting for defendants facing allegations of trade mark infringement or passing off, including making applications to invalidate third-party trade mark registrations
    • acting for registrants and rights owners in domain name disputes
  • Useful links

Key contacts