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Our People
Global Presence
Regions
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Americas
Offices
  • Canada
    • Ottawa
    • Toronto
  • China
    • Beijing
    • Hong Kong
  • Luxembourg
  • Malaysia
  • Singapore
  • UK
    • Aberdeen
    • Birmingham
    • Cambridge
    • Edinburgh
    • Glasgow
    • London
    • Manchester
    • Oxford
Client liaison
  • Japan
  • Korea
Expertise
Services
  • Patents
  • Brands & Trade Marks
  • Designs
  • Litigation & Dispute Resolution
  • Commercial IP & Contracts
  • Due Diligence
  • Freedom to Operate
  • EPO Patent Oppositions
  • European Patent Validations
  • Anti-counterfeiting
  • Open Source & Third Party Code
Sectors
  • Digital Transformation
    • 3D Printing
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Blockchain
    • Data & Connectivity
    • Extended Reality
    • Industry 4.0
  • Energy & Environment
  • Life Sciences
  • Agritech
  • Medical Technologies
  • Chemistry
  • Transport
  • Entertainment & Creative Industries
  • Food & Drink
  • Fashion & Retail
  • Universities & Research Bodies
  • Start-ups & Spin-outs
    • Creating value for start-ups
    • The IP driven start-up
  • Financial Services
About Us
  • Working with us
  • Awards
  • Corporate & Social Responsibility
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Careers
Insights
  • Articles
  • News
  • Events
  • Resources
  • Unified Patent Court hub
  • Beyond Brexit: European trade mark hub
  • M&C Reacts

Brands & Trade Marks

Specialists
Services
Insights

Maximising the value of brands and trade marks

The right protection in the right markets, aligned with your business plan and budget

A brand can be your most valuable asset, giving you rights that need protecting, enforcing and commercialising. By providing you with a bespoke road map, we’ll ensure you get the best value out of your intellectual property. Wherever you are in the world, whatever the size of your business, whatever sector you’re in, we’ll make your brands and trade marks work harder for your budget.

European and global

We have trade mark attorneys in the UK and in mainland Europe, qualified to act before the UKIPO, the EUIPO and in the courts. We work as an in-house team, irrespective of our locations. We hold the largest active EU trade mark portfolio of any firm in the UK. 

Our attorneys are placed in key markets worldwide and have in-depth knowledge of those markets. In addition to our own offices, we work with attorney firms with the expertise and service ethic our clients expect, making sure your needs are never compromised.

Legal and commercial expertise

We’re experts in securing trade mark rights, protecting and enforcing brands and solving legal branding challenges. Marks & Clerk has a large global pool of professionals. We’ll select people with the right legal and commercial expertise and who are a good cultural fit for your business.

Specialists

for the result you need

Photo: Tom Farrand

Tom Farrand

Consultant Registered and Chartered Trade Mark Attorney (UK)
Tom is a Registered Trade Mark Attorney with more than 30 years’ experience working with brand and intellectual Property owners across a range of industries.
Photo: Jonathan Colombo

Jonathan Colombo

Partner Canadian Trademark Agent, Barrister and Solicitor
Jonathan Colombo is the Managing Partner of Marks & Clerk Canada, and is one of Canada’s leading trademark litigators.

Simon Speeks

Partner Chartered Trade Mark Attorney (UK)
Simon specialises in all aspects of trade mark law, including transactional work, licensing and franchising arrangements, enforcement of rights, portfolio management and disputes.
Photo: Kirsten Gilbert

Kirsten Gilbert

Partner Solicitor (UK)
Kirsten is a Partner and an intellectual property lawyer at Marks & Clerk Law who specialises in litigation, alternative dispute resolution and brand strategy. Kirsten advises in a broad range of sectors including food & drink, financial services, pharmaceuticals, fashion and creative industries.

Trade mark services

Protecting

Getting the right protection in the right markets, aligned with your business plan and budget, is central to our approach. We’ll work with you to produce the best road map for your IP protection. We can:

  • advise on the risks associated with new brands and naming, and conduct the relevant searches
  • provide clarity on difficult issues such as validity and infringement
  • advise on the best way to register all brands, including those that may be difficult to protect
  • advise on the best protection strategy for a mark and then manage its implementation worldwide.

Defending

You don’t always have to go to court to defend your brands. We’ll work with you to guard against others trying to profit from your intellectual assets. We can:

  • monitor new applications that may affect your trade mark rights
  • use our experienced anti-counterfeiting team to instruct seizure of goods
  • work with you to adapt a brand to avoid impinging on a third party prior right
  • handle all contentious issues relating to trade marks, from oppositions to company name disputes to domains.

Our team of specialist commercial lawyers and IP litigators works closely with the brand protection team. Together they help you with pre-litigation strategy and all aspects of litigation and dispute resolution relating to trade marks (including infringement and passing-off).

If you choose - or are forced - to litigate, we can help you achieve your objectives in the highest courts around the world through:

  • obtaining urgent interim injunctive relief 
  • defending you against third parties' assertions of trade mark infringement
  • seeking to protect your marks from third-party infringers
  • seeking to defend your marks from the challenges of others.

Managing portfolios

We can take care of your administrative needs, making sure the reminders, deadlines and renewals involved in securing trade marks are safely managed. Our systems are ISO 9001 quality-assured so you can be confident about leaving the admin with us. We can:

  • assist with the transfer of rights or the acquisition of third party rights
  • help you design internal systems for the most efficient and effective management of IP arising from your branding processes
  • provide internal training programmes for your teams.

Maximising value

Trade marks are not just for defending market share and maintaining competitive advantage. They can also generate revenue and raise the value of your business. We can:

  • review your existing portfolio of rights and offer advice on its strengths and weaknesses
  • review competitor and sector activity worldwide and help you plan your branding strategy accordingly
  • draft licences and assignments and assist in negotiations with third parties
  • ensure you’re getting the maximum IP return from your brand portfolio
  • assist in developing suitable new brands and corporate images.

Latest Insights

Image: Nike Air Max
Article
- 30 March 2023

Nike block MAX 1 for Verstappen

Max Verstappen's plans to launch a MAX 1 clothing range have run into a roadblock, as Nike successfully oppose his Benelux trade mark application on the basis of their rights in AIR MAX. 
Read more
Black Nike Air Force Ones with Tiffany blue tick, against a Tiffany blue background
Article
- 15 March 2023

IP protection in collaborations: "Just Do It"

2022 saw a growing rise in athleisure, with many brands recognising the business opportunities it brings, including reaching new markets and increasing market share through their own performance lines or through collaborations with existing active wear brands.
Read more
Article
- 13 March 2023

Peppa Pig v Wolfoo: clash of the cartoons

In its recent decision in Entertainment One UK Ltd & Anor v Sconnect Co Ltd & Ors, the High Court considered whether English courts could have jurisdiction in cases involving intellectual property infringements on internationally accessible internet platforms.
Read more

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