Blackhorse Lane has become one of London's densest clusters of breweries, sharing its old factories with furniture makers, a jeans workshop and design studios, and almost everything they sell depends on a name and a label. A beer named after a local landmark, a logo drawn by a friend, a packaging style that a supermarket's own brand borrows a year later: these are the matters that bring intellectual property solicitors in Waltham Forest their work, and the first advice is to register the trade mark before the first pallet leaves.
William Morris grew up in the house that is now the gallery in Lloyd Park, and his patterns have been out of copyright for so long that they appear on everything from cushions to phone cases. Today's designers in Walthamstow and Leytonstone are in a stronger position: copyright in their work lasts for their lifetime and seventy years beyond it, and registered and unregistered design rights protect the shape of what they make. The E17 Art Trail and the Borough of Culture year produced a generation of illustrators, printmakers and small labels who need licences that say what a client or a retailer may do with their work.
Most disputes are settled by a letter before action. Those that are not can be taken to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, where costs are capped and damages cannot exceed £500,000, which makes a claim realistic for a brewery or a studio. Patents are rare here, and a solicitor will bring in a patent attorney when one is needed.
Registrations and standard agreements are usually fixed-fee, disputes hourly.
The firms offering intellectual property advice in Waltham Forest are listed below, verified firms first. Read what intellectual property law covers, the general IP solicitors guide and the wider intellectual property solicitors in London page; for leases, licensing and company matters see business law solicitors in Waltham Forest.
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