Intellectual Property

Our Advertising & Marketing team is dedicated to supporting businesses at every stage of their advertising and marketing journey. From ad copy clearance to analysing innovative user tracking methods and managing advertising complaints, we provide comprehensive support. We work closely with brands to ensure compliance with ASA CAP and BCAP codes and handle clearance issues related to third-party IP rights.

Our expertise extends to helping demand-side platforms, ad exchanges, supply-side platforms, and publishers navigate the complex regulatory landscape, including regulatory investigations and challenges from individuals or groups. We also specialise in promotional marketing, digital campaigns, prize draws, competitions, and social media use, offering advice and preparing terms and conditions.

Additionally, we advise on and negotiate advertising and marketing agreements, including brand ambassador and influencer contracts, and internal ad policies. Our team, with its extensive industry knowledge and cross-departmental collaboration, ensures that we are at the cutting edge of advertising regulatory developments, delivering tailored solutions to meet our clients' needs.

With many years of experience in developing global strategies against counterfeiting, piracy and unauthorised imports, our Anti-counterfeiting & Piracy team is at the forefront in devising and deploying innovative solutions to assist our clients in combating the pervasive threat of IP crime. We use a full arsenal of civil, criminal and preventative remedies to protect brand owners, working closely with enforcement agencies alongside our colleagues in Fraud & Asset Recovery, Cyber Risk and Private Prosecutions, to provide a multi-faceted enforcement strategy.

Our integrated Brands group offers comprehensive and streamlined services covering the entire brand lifecycle, from inception to protection, commercialisation and enforcement.

Our diverse team of Partners, Associates, Trade Mark Attorneys, and Paralegals advises clients across a broad range of sectors, safeguarding new, established, or expanding brands, and ensuring that brand protection strategies are robust and commercially viable. We foster close ties with industry bodies and the UK and EU IP Offices and the World Intellectual Property Organisation. This enables us to provide our clients with proactive and informed advice that anticipates change and protects their interests, and adds significant value to their brand.

The range of diverse specialists involved in our Confidential Information & Trade Secrets practice sets it apart. Crucially, the team is not simply comprised of IP lawyers, but is a truly multi-disciplinary team of specialists in employment, data protection, civil and criminal fraud, reputation management, regulatory and commercial law. A key part of the group is our Cyber Risk and Complex Investigations team, an in-house team of cyber security specialists, who play a crucial role in digital investigations, investigating data breaches and assisting clients with future preventative measures.

Our copyright and design specialists are at the forefront of advising on the protection, exploitation, and enforcement of designs, copyright, and associated rights, across all sectors. This allows our clients to maximise the commercial value of their creative content and product design. We possess deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges presented by technological advancements and the relevant legal frameworks, and use our long-standing expertise and innovation in IP remedies to implement robust protection and enforcement strategies.

Our copyright and design lawyers work proactively with our clients across the full lifecycle, from the development of appropriate strategies surrounding content and product development, clearance and registration, through to enforcement. We advise across all creative and content rich industries, with particular focus on Technology, Media & Entertainment, esports, Betting & Gaming, Art, Retail, FMCG, Luxury Assets and Automotive.

Our Intellectual Property Disputes group is renowned for its market-leading expertise, having successfully represented clients in landmark IP cases before all of levels of UK courts, as well as the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The team offers a wide array of services, from co-ordinating cross-border patent litigation through to disputes concerning well-known brands and creative works. With a strong background in securing innovative forms of relief for our clients, we excel in delivering robust IP enforcement strategies, with a focus on affirmative recovery through cost-effective dispute resolution.

Our IP Enforcement team is a leader in addressing sophisticated and evolving intellectual property infringements, offering a dynamic approach that combines civil, criminal, and cyber intelligence strategies. Using a full spectrum of enforcement actions, from search and seizure to website blocking and criminal prosecutions, we rely on our sector-specific expertise to provide a range of comprehensive services to protect our clients' IP rights and provide maximum deterrent effect.

Our Commercial Contracts team is dedicated to efficiently identifying key issues in IP-focused deals, crafting and negotiating agreements to safeguard our clients' interests, balancing detail with commercial viability. We offer a personalised service, pairing solicitors with the right expertise to each project, and are known for our decisive and strategic advice. Our clients range from startups to established names, allowing us to assist businesses through all growth phases, including expansion into new markets.

Sitting at the heart of our Innovation department, our Patents team, comprising highly experienced patent lawyers and attorneys, is one of only a small number in the UK offering full service patent expertise. We advise our clients on how to build foundational IP strategies and obtain patent protection, new product launches and freedom to operate, infringement and validity disputes, and exploitation of patents.

We act for dynamic clients across the innovation economy from multinationals through to fast-growth, venture-backed and owner-managed businesses. Our extensive expertise in devising and co-ordinating enforcement and patent challenge strategies across a range of Courts, including the developing Unified Patent Court, ensures we bring an outstanding level of consistency, efficiency and strategic oversight.