Intellectual Property and Media

Your brand and ideas are what make you unique and set you apart from your competition.

Intellectual property (IP) plays a pivotal role in the protection of your brand and ideas, how your business competes and succeeds, both at home and in world markets.

Our IP solicitors have experience working with entrepreneurs and start-up’s through to global brands to reach their commercial objectives cost-effectively. We’ve a deep understanding of how crucial the correct IP strategy is. Contact us to find out how we can help.

How can Irwin Mitchell’s IP lawyers help you?

We help you protect what matters most to you, whether that is your brand, ideas and reputation.

We are a full-service intellectual property practice comprising both solicitors and trade mark attorneys, meaning we can provide our clients with a seamless and integrated service across the full spectrum and lifecycle of IP rights.

Our work ranges from rights protection, registration and management, commercial exploitation through to disputes and enforcement, both in the UK and internationally.

We work with entrepreneurs, start-up’s through to global brands protecting, managing and enforcing their IP.  Whatever stage you are at, we can help you start up, scale up and or sell up.

We have experience across a wide range of industries and sectors, including

  • Retail and consumer goods
  • Financial and professional services
  • Leisure and hospitality
  • Healthcare
  • Manufacturing
  • Media, publishing & entertainment
  • Sport.

Why choose Irwin Mitchell’s intellectual property solicitors?

You’ll get fast, clear, no-nonsense advice about your options and their timescales, costs, and likely outcomes. We’ll empower you to make decisions by giving you the information you need when you need it.

You’ll then have peace of mind that you’ve assessed all your options and can make a properly informed decision about what to do. When you’ve decided how to proceed, you’ll have a team of dedicated, determined, and persuasive intellectual property specialists working with you to achieve your specific objectives.

In some cases, you may have different options available to fund the legal work you need. Our lawyers will discuss those options with you early on, and make sure you understand both the positives and negatives of each.

We’re members of various professional and international IP associations that help us keep up to date with the ever-changing world of IP. These associations include:

  • The International Trade Mark Association
  • Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys
  • Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.

The team is led by Georgie Collins, who has over 25 years’ experience in IP. Georgie is also the Head of the US Desk. The independent legal guide, Legal 500, says of Georgie: “Georgie Collins has huge experience and excellent commercial sense, as well international experience.”

What areas of IP can Irwin Mitchell’s lawyers help with?

Our IP lawyers can help you with:

  • Advertising and marketing – We help make sure your ads and marketing messages are compliant respond to complaints and investigations if they arise.  
  • Anti-counterfeiting and piracy – We can help you devise anti-counterfeiting and piracy programmes, working with law enforcement agencies.
  • Brands – We help you identify what rights you can protect, Our powerful AI software tools allow us to search and screen trade marks registries in over 190 countries together with common law searches including company and domain names and social media handle to ensure you are free to use and register your chosen brands, including through registered trade marks and/or registered design protection, whether in the UK or internationally.
  • Confidential information and trade secrets - We can advise on how you can benefit from these valuable rights, ensure you capture and protect them and take action when they are misused.
  • Commercialise your intellectual property – We can help you buy or sell any of your IP, licence and franchise it.
  • Copyrights and database rights –  we can advise on how you can benefit from these valuable rights, ensure you capture and protect them and take action when they are misused.
  • IP disputes and enforcement – We work with you to resolve IP disputes quickly, cost-effectively, and on the best achievable terms. Our experience includes securing urgent injunctions, resolve most matters out of court but have the experience, expertise, strategic insight, and tenacity to minimise risks and ensure optimum outcomes from court proceedings too.
  • Patents – Working alongside our trusted patent attorneys, we help clients build a strategy, secure patent protection, launch new products and services and commercialise their inventions and navigate patent infringement and ownership disputes
  • Reputation, Defamation, Privacy & Crisis Management - We provide advice to high-profile and high net-worth individuals and companies and their officers, who find themselves at risk of having their reputations damaged by a threatened publication
  • Intellectual property strategy – We help you understand the rights that are available and relevant to your activities and ambitions, curate an IP strategy bespoke to you, to protect, manage and enforce your rights, whether you are at the start of your business or for preparing to exit/sale, and whether you are operating domestically or internationally.
  • Intellectual property audit – We carry out a thorough review to help you identify the extent of your IP rights, any gaps, risks and opportunities so you can maximise the commercial value of your IP.

Who do we help?

Our IP lawyers can help:

  • Businesses – start-ups through the global corporates in the UK and internationally
  • Business owners and senior executives – CEOs, CFOs, GCs, Marketing and HR professionals, risk managers,
  • Individuals – entrepreneurs, shareholders, directors, high profile individuals and influencers
  • Professionals & Advisors – lawyers, accountants, banks, investors, PR agencies, advisers Agents for media and sports personalities.

What is intellectual property?

IP refers to the ideas and creations by a person or business. This includes, but isn’t limited to:

  • Inventions
  • Literary and artistic works
  • Designs
  • Symbols
  • Names and images used in commerce.

If you would like to know how our intellectual property solicitors can help you, contact our team today.

Find one of our solicitors near you

We have offices in major cities throughout the UK and our lawyers can arrange to visit you or your business in person if necessary. We also have international capability, with global links to other legal specialists.

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Awards & Accreditations

We’re proud of the recognition we’ve received for our business legal work. For a list of awards and accreditations, please visit our awards page.

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Legal 500 - 2024 Leading Firm
Legal 500 - 2024 Top Tier
Legal 500 - Leading Firm 2025

Business News

Our lawyers are regularly asked to provide expert insight, advice and analysis for the national media. Take a look at the stories below to see what we’re saying, as well as some of the recent deals we have completed for our clients here in the UK and abroad.