Intellectual Property

A group of companies was engaged in extensive marketing, but its accounts, websites and rights to the materials created were registered in the names of different entities within the group. To set up franchises later, the rights had to be brought together in the group's management company.

It was established which group entity held each asset, and the transfer of rights to the management company was documented. The rights to the group's marketing assets were put in order and consolidated in the hands of a single entity.

The client needed to register a trademark to brand the services of a travel agency. Registration was blocked by another company's mark: that company used it for a cosmetics brand, but the protection of the mark also extended to a number of Nice classes the client needed.

Claims for early termination of the legal protection of the mark for non-use were prepared in respect of those classes. The claims were put to the rights holder at the pre-trial stage, and the dispute was settled without going to court.

The buyer was acquiring an interest in a company developing a healthy lifestyle app with a weekly audience of more than 1.5 million users worldwide. Comprehensive legal due diligence of the business being acquired was a key part of the engagement.

The company's intellectual property rights were analysed, as well as its corporate history, business operations and employment relationships. The due diligence findings were taken into account in structuring the transaction and preparing the contractual documentation.