Trade Mark & Brand Protection Solicitors

Your brand may be one of the most recognisable and valuable parts of your business. It helps customers identify who they are dealing with, distinguishes you from competitors and can become increasingly important as the business grows.

Our trademark solicitors help businesses identify what is worth protecting, assess potential conflicts and advise on the most appropriate strategy for protecting their brands and supporting their wider plans. We also advise on trademark and brand disputes, including trademark oppositions, pursuing and defending trademark infringement and passing off claims.

Our advice is clear and focused on your commercial outcomes. We will explain where the risks sit and what protection is likely to add meaningful value to your business.

Harrison Drury is recognised in independent legal directories including Chambers and Partners UK and The Legal 500 UK, with both the firm and individual lawyers recommended. We also hold Lexcel, the Law Society’s practice management standard, reflecting our wider commitment to quality, consistency and client care.

Speak to our intellectual property solicitors about your brand, your plans and the most practical next step.

Protecting the value behind your brand

A brand can include much more than a company name. Depending on how your business presents itself, you may need to consider protecting a variety of intellectual property.

Not every brand asset will need the same level of protection. Registering everything may be unnecessary, while overlooking a commercially important name or market could leave a significant gap.

We help you develop a proportionate trademark strategy based on how your brand is used now and where the business may be heading. Effective protection can help you:

Reduce the risk of investing in a name that conflicts with earlier rights
Establish clearer ownership of important names, logos and product brands
Respond more effectively when similar branding appears
Support licensing, franchising, distribution and other commercial arrangements
Demonstrate ownership during an investment, acquisition or sale
Protect the brand in the countries where you intend to trade

Trademarks are registered for specified goods and services and generally provide protection within particular territories. The decisions made when preparing an application can therefore affect how effective that protection will be as the business develops.

Our trade mark and brand protection services

We help you decide which parts of your brand are worth protecting and who should own them. By considering your current activities and future plans, we can help you focus your budget on the rights most likely to support the business.

Before you invest in a new brand, product name or launch, we can carry out clearance searches to identify earlier rights that may present a potential conflict. We will assess the results and advise on the level of risk, helping you make an informed decision before committing significant time and investment to the brand.

We advise on whether trademark registration is appropriate, including ownership, the goods and services for which protection may be required and the scope of protection your business may need. Where registration is recommended, we can advise you on the appropriate next steps for obtaining protection.
We can also advise where issues arise during the registration process or where an application is challenged by another party.

A UK registration does not provide automatic protection overseas. We can advise on the countries and markets in which protection may be commercially important and help you develop an appropriate international brand protection strategy.
This allows you to prioritise protection in the markets that matter to your business while taking a proportionate approach to costs.

As your business develops, the protection you need may change with it. We can review your existing trademark portfolio in the context of your current activities and future plans, identify potential gaps in protection and advise on areas that may need to be strengthened or rationalised.
This can be particularly useful where your business is expanding into new products, services or markets, or preparing for an investment, acquisition or sale.

We advise on allowing another organisations to use your trade marks through commercial arrangements. Clear agreements can protect ownership, control how the brand is presented and define what each party may do.
We can also assist with transferring trade mark ownership as part of a sale, acquisition or business reorganisation.

You may need to respond when another party objects to your application or seek advise on challenging an application that appears too close to your own brand.
We can assess the respective rights and the strength of the potential challenge, explain the risks and advise on the most appropriate way forward

When another organisation uses a name, logo or brand that is similar to yours, early advice can help you understand whether your rights have been infringed and how best to respond.
We can gather evidence, manage correspondence, negotiate a resolution and pursue formal action where necessary. We also defend businesses that have received an allegation of infringement, helping them assess the claim and avoid taking steps that could weaken their position.

A business may still have some protection even where its brand has not been registered as a trade mark. Passing off can apply where another party’s conduct misleads customers and damages the goodwill associated with an established business.
We can assess whether a claim may be available, identify the evidence required and advise on the options for protecting or defending an unregistered brand.

How we work with your business

We begin by understanding what you want to protect and why it matters. You may need advice on one specific trademark or brand issue, or you may be looking for a longer-term strategy across several brands and markets. We will identify the decisions that matter most and set out a practical sequence of work.

For entrepreneurs, owner-managed businesses and SMEs, this often means providing responsive advice and a clear route forward without unnecessary process. For established organisations and in-house teams, we can provide additional capacity, strategic advice and support on matters involving several brands, stakeholders or territories.

Where the matter overlaps with other areas of your business, we can bring the relevant specialists together. This gives you joined-up advice through one cohesive team rather than leaving you to coordinate several separate advisers.

Our aim is to work as an extension of your team, supporting the immediate decision while remaining accessible as the brand and its commercial importance develop. We will discuss the scope and likely cost of the work before you commit to the next stage.

Why choose Harrison Drury?

Our intellectual property team brings substantial experience in complex trademark and brand disputes, including infringement, and passing off claims. We combine that specialist expertise with practical advice on protecting, using and commercialising brands, always with a clear focus on the wider objectives of your business.

Your trademark protection needs to work commercially as well as legally. We will help you identify the rights that should be prioritised, assess potential conflicts, and recommend proportionate action where an issue arises.

You will have a clear point of contact who remains close to the detail and keeps the work moving. Where broader support is required, our specialist lawyers can work together to provide continuity across connected areas of advice.

Harrison Drury is recognised in Chambers and Partners UK and The Legal 500 UK, with the firm and individual lawyers recommended. We also hold Lexcel, the Law Society’s practice management standard, reflecting our commitment to effective processes, consistent service and high standards of client care.

We place considerable value on building lasting relationships. As your business evolves, our team will remain available to help you review existing brand protection and advise on future protection needs and opportunities.

Talk to our trademark and brand protection solicitors

You do not need to have decided on the legal solution before contacting us.

We will take the time to understand your brand, the issue you are facing, what you want to achieve and any commercial deadlines that need to be considered. We can then explain where you stand and recommend the most practical next step.

Known throughout the North, with offices in Lancashire, Cumbria and Staffordshire, including Preston, Clitheroe, Garstang, Kendal, Lancaster, Lytham, Manchester, Southport and Stoke, we offer accessible support that stays close to what matters to your business.

Contact Harrison Drury to speak to one of our intellectual property solicitors about protecting your brand or dealing with a brand dispute.

Trade Mark & Brand Protection FAQs

You should consider trade mark protection when choosing or launching a business, product or service name, logo or other distinctive brand element, ideally before investing significantly in marketing, packaging or a website. Registration may also be valuable when expanding into new markets, licensing your brand or becoming aware of similar branding within your sector. Taking advice early can help identify potentially conflicting rights and ensure the application covers the goods and services that are relevant to your current activities and future plans.

Neither symbol is inherently better, as they apply in different circumstances. You can use ™ to indicate that you consider a name, logo or other sign to be a trade mark, even if it has not been registered. The ® symbol should only be used once the mark has been formally registered, and only in a territory where that registration applies. Registration generally provides stronger and clearer enforcement rights than relying on an unregistered mark alone.

The official UK Intellectual Property Office fee for an online trade mark application is currently £205 for one class of goods or services, with an additional £60 payable for each extra class. Legal fees for carrying out searches, advising on the application and preparing the necessary documents are separate and will depend on the work involved. Further costs may also arise if the application faces objections or opposition from another trade mark owner. We will explain the likely scope and cost of our work before it begins.

A UK trade mark registration lasts for 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely for further 10-year periods. You will need to pay the relevant renewal fee to keep the registration in force, so it is important to maintain accurate records and monitor the renewal date. A trade mark can also be renewed up to six months after it expires, although an additional late fee will apply.

If you believe someone is infringing your trademark, preserve evidence of how and where the mark is being used, including screenshots, advertisements, product listings and relevant correspondence. You should seek legal advice before contacting the other party, as communications alleging trademark infringement need to be carefully considered, including in light of the rules relating to unjustified threats of infringement proceedings. We can assess the strength and scope of your rights and advise on a proportionate response. This may include requesting that the use stops, negotiating an agreement, using mediation or taking legal action where necessary. We also advise businesses that have received allegations of trademark infringement and can help assess the strength of the claim and the appropriate response.

No. Registering a company name with Companies House records the legal name of your company, but it does not give you trade mark protection or necessarily prevent another business from using the same or a similar name as a brand. A separate trade mark registration can provide stronger rights to protect your name or logo in connection with the goods and services covered by the registration.