Films have been made on Ealing Green for longer than anywhere else in the world, and Ealing Studios still turns out features and television series alongside a cluster of post-production, animation and visual-effects companies in Ealing and Acton. Every one of them runs on intellectual property: option agreements for scripts, chain-of-title documents that prove who owns a story, music licences, performers' consents and distribution deals. Intellectual property solicitors in Ealing therefore see more copyright and contract work than trade mark work.
Southall supplies the brands. Its restaurants, sweet shops, sari houses, jewellers and Punjabi music labels trade on names and designs that are copied with enthusiasm, and a registered UK trade mark is the only practical way to stop a rival opening under the same name a mile away. Food manufacturers in Park Royal and Greenford, some of which supply supermarkets across the country, need trade marks for product ranges, confidentiality agreements with co-packers and advice on packaging that strays too close to a competitor's. Fashion and jewellery designers rely on registered and unregistered design rights.
The work follows a pattern. An IP solicitor in Ealing registers marks and designs at the Intellectual Property Office, drafts the licences and assignments under which rights are shared or sold, and sends the letter before action when a copy appears. Most disputes stop at that letter. Those that do not can go to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court in central London, where costs are capped and damages are limited to £500,000, which keeps small claims proportionate. Patents are usually handled with a patent attorney alongside the solicitor.
Fixed fees cover most registrations and standard agreements; infringement work is billed hourly.
The Ealing firms that handle intellectual property are listed below, verified firms first. Our explainer on intellectual property law and the general IP solicitors page set out the rights in more detail, and company matters beyond IP belong on the business law solicitors in Ealing page.
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