How I can help your business

• Advise on trade mark selection, clearance and global portfolio strategy aligned to your commercial objectives.
• Manage and enforce UK, EU and international trade mark portfolios, providing clear and practical guidance.
• Support IP due diligence in transactions, including M&A, and develop effective brand protection strategies.

Overview & Expertise

Esther Gottschalk is a Partner and Head of Trade Marks (Europe) at Marks & Clerk. She has over 20 years’ experience in the trade mark profession and works with a portfolio of national and international clients, alongside serving on the LLP Board.

Esther advises on all aspects of trade mark protection and portfolio management, including selection, prosecution and enforcement. She has particular expertise in global portfolio management and clearance searching and is regularly involved in IP due diligence for M&A transactions. Her experience across sectors including IT, automotive, food and drink and manufacturing, enables her to provide commercially grounded, sector-relevant advice.

She has extensive experience of the US market, working directly with US corporates and attorney firms to manage global trade mark portfolios. Her work focuses on developing strategies that align with clients’ commercial objectives and address legal branding challenges as they arise.

Before joining Marks & Clerk in 2001, Esther worked in PR and marketing. She continues to work closely with design firms at brand inception stage, advising on pre-clearance of new brands.

She holds an MA (Hons) in English Language and Literature from Pembroke College, Oxford, and teaches searching and client management on the Professional Certificate in Trade Mark Practice at Nottingham Law School.

She is a Registered and Chartered Trade Mark Attorney (UK) and holds a Certificate in Intellectual Property Law from Queen Mary University of London.

Client Work & Case Experience

• Automotive sector - overseeing the global trade mark portfolio of a luxury car manufacturer across multiple jurisdictions, coordinating protection and strategy internationally.
• Cosmetics sector - advising a major cosmetics company on the development of a unified UK and EU enforcement strategy for a key brand.