Brand Development
It is crucial that those things that define you, your company or your products do not get taken advantage of. All too often people who have not put in the effort and money to build and develop a strong brand and reputation will try to take advantage of you. The law has a number of ways to protect you in preventing this and at Atkins we are experts in helping you to essentially obtain a monopoly over your brand or product name or logo (trade marks); inventions (patents) and unique imagery (designs).
We can assist in the registration, commercial exploitation and protection of these fundamental assets.
To obtain the maximum protection for those things that define you registration must be obtained. This is not always possible and we will advise you if there will be any difficulties.
There are strict rules with regard to registration and it is important to get the application right to ensure you have the correct protection. If not you are at risk of wasting money on an application that will either fail early or not protect what you need it to.
With regard to trade marks we can make the applications for registration that covers either the United Kingdom or the whole of the European Union. We cannot make the actual application in other countries because a local contact is required but we have excellent links with agents in all of the major economic areas, including the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. We will co-ordinate these applications to ensure that your brand is always the prime concern throughout the world.
Denzil has successfully obtained trade mark registrations throughout the world for a number of household names, ranging from products for the home and foodstuffs to charity and business names.
We are also able to obtain the quicker and cheaper design registration and will advise on whether this is an option for you. However, we do not carry out patent registration because we recognise that you need a specialist in your industry for this. We can, however, suggest appropriate contacts for this.
Like with copyright your trade marks, patents and designs are valuable assets to your commercial interests. People tend to think of them as things you want to keep and prevent others from using but as with most assets you can sell or licence them. We can advise on the best way to do this and assist with negotiating the deal. We will also, if required, draft the appropriate agreement and deal with the necessary administrative work at the relevant registry.
Even when your right has been registered the management of your trade mark, design or patent is not finished. People will still try to take advantage of your brand, innocently use a similar image or name or even remove you from the relevant register if they have a similar identifier.
In these situations we will advise you on and take for you, the appropriate action to ensure your brand is not exploited by others. It is, of course, always important to be precise in any legal action but this is particularly the case with trade mark and design rights where the law is particularly strict on people who take action when they should not.
Whilst it is easier to act in relation to a registered identifier, even if you have a design or trade mark that has not or cannot be registered legal action can be taken. We have successfully prevented our clients marks, registered and unregistered, from being used without permission throughout the world. We have prevented inferior copies of unique designs being sold in high street shops. It is important to act quickly but properly and so call us to discuss any problems you are having and how we can help.