The word "Wimbledon" is one of the most carefully guarded names in sport. The All England Club registers it as a trade mark across clothing, drinks, towels and much else, and a Merton business that puts a tennis racket next to the name on its packaging may well get a letter. It is a useful lesson in how trade marks work: a place name on its own is hard to monopolise, but a place name used as a brand in a particular market can be, and the owner will defend it.
Beyond the tennis, Merton's intellectual property is modest and real. Merton Abbey Mills was once where Liberty printed its fabrics and William Morris made his, and the designers, makers and food producers who trade from the weekend market there still live by their designs and their names. Wimbledon town centre has agencies, developers and consultancies whose value is copyright and know-how; Mitcham's industrial estates hold manufacturers with product designs worth registering; AFC Wimbledon is a fan-owned club with a badge, a name and a history it has fought to keep. Start-ups in Colliers Wood and Raynes Park need to know who owns the code and the logo before the first investor asks.
An intellectual property solicitor in Merton files trade mark and design applications at the UK Intellectual Property Office, drafts the licences, assignments and confidentiality agreements that let ideas be shared safely, and handles infringement from the first letter to a claim in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, whose costs caps and £500,000 ceiling on damages make a smaller dispute affordable. Patents usually involve a patent attorney alongside.
Applications and standard agreements are typically fixed-fee; infringement work is charged by the hour.
Firms advising on intellectual property around Merton are listed below, verified firms first. See what intellectual property law covers and the general IP solicitors page, or for the company side business law solicitors in Merton; the capital-wide list is at intellectual property solicitors in London.
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