A stall on Romford market, a van with a name painted on the side, an online shop run from a bedroom in Collier Row: most of Havering's intellectual property belongs to very small businesses, and most of it is unprotected until something goes wrong. The borough has no creative quarter, which makes the work less glamorous than in central London but no less necessary. A trader with twenty years' reputation on the market, a Hornchurch beautician whose salon name has been copied by a rival two streets away, an Upminster plumber who finds his logo on someone else's van: each has rights, and each needs a solicitor to say which.
Trade marks are the heart of it. Registering a name and logo at the UK Intellectual Property Office is cheap compared with being forced to rebrand, and an IP solicitor in Havering will search first, file the application and deal with any opposition. Beyond that, the engineering and manufacturing firms around Rainham and the CEME campus generate patents, registered designs and confidentiality agreements; the borough's many franchisees, from fast food to fitness, need their franchise agreements read before they sign; and e-commerce sellers on the big marketplaces face takedown notices and counterfeit complaints that need a fast, informed response. Copyright questions arise for photographers, wedding videographers, tattoo artists and web designers, and for the clients who assumed that paying for the work meant owning it.
Most infringement is settled by a letter before action. Claims that go further are usually brought in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, where damages are limited to £500,000, costs are capped, and the small claims track handles modest cases. Patent drafting goes to a patent attorney.
Searches, registrations and standard agreements are fixed-fee; disputes are hourly.
Intellectual property firms serving Havering are listed below, verified firms first. See what intellectual property law covers, the general IP solicitors page and business law solicitors in Havering; the London IP page lists the specialist firms in the centre.
Verified