Trade Marks

The best level of protection is gained through registration of your marks and, unlike most IP rights, if well looked after registered trade marks can last forever.

We can provide you with advice in relation to the creation, protection, maintenance, enforcement and exploitation of all aspects of a trade mark and brand, including:

• Brand clearance and searching
• Advising on and protecting all manner of trade marks from words and logos, to the more “exotic” sounds, shapes, colours, positions, and motion marks nationally and internationally
• Watching services so you are alerted to potentially conflicting marks by third parties
• Management of global portfolios
• Brand audits
• Registered trade mark infringement and invalidity proceedings, and passing off actions
• Trade mark oppositions, cancellations and revocations in the UK and EU Registries
• Appeals in the UK Courts, the EUIPO and CJEU
• Brand licensing, franchising and co-existence agreements
• Advertising clearance and regulation; ASA complaints and comparative advertising claims

With the completion of Brexit at the end of 2020, EU trade marks no longer extend to the UK, although existing EU registrations have been “cloned” as UK registrations. We have produced some guidance on how Brexit affects your EUTM’s here.