Commercial IP

We maximise your rights and protect your valued assets



Our experienced Commercial Intellectual Property team helps maximise value from your rights and avoid expensive liabilities when licensing other people’s rights.

Summary

Intellectual property (IP) is crucial to your success – if you can control it. A substantial part of every business’ value is located in its IP, so defending it, developing it and exploiting it is the key to your future. That’s where gunnercooke, with only expert lawyers working on your case, will make a difference. Each of our partners has at least 10,000 hours of practice in their field before joining, so you’re always working alongside an experienced advisor who is able to guide you through.

Whether it is licensing, franchising or distribution agreements, we help you structure your commercial IP agreements so that you can enhance the profitability of your business. All of our lawyers are commercially-minded, offering you flexible fee structures and absolute transparency.

Our specialist team of lawyers have significant in-house experience and are waiting to help you tackle any commercial IP issue that may arise. We work proactively, through strategic planning and negotiations, but are also on hand to help you react to problems as they arise. Our lawyers’ long-term personal client relationships mean that they truly understand the commercial realities that affect businesses and can plan accordingly. We always aim to become your trusted advisors, and our business model is designed to encourage a sustainable partnership with clients.

Our global network and depth of experience means that we can put commercially sensible and long-lasting contractual protection in place, leaving you to focus on what you do best: your business.

Notable cases

  • Helping technology clients grow their business by getting the right commercial contracts in place with their major national and international customer base (everyone from the UK government to a Kazakh hospital)
  • Future-proofing new ecommerce business models
  • Assisting with major corporate transactions to assure businesses that there are no hidden IP issues
  • Protecting businesses whose IP and confidential information are misused by former employees
  • Advising technology start-ups on their commercial and corporate needs

Our commercial IP work includes:

  • IP licensing: it’s important to get the right licences and licensing structure in place for your business – the optimum approach will also change as you grow, so this should be regularly revisited
  • Media rights deals: our lawyers include leading lights in the sports, music and gaming sectors. Whatever your rights, our lawyers can help secure the optimum deal
  • Sponsorship and advertising: whether entering into a sponsorship agreement or clearing an advertisement prior to launch, our lawyers can help you manage all of your sponsorship and advertising needs
  • IT contracts: Technology contracts have many nuances that our expert IT lawyers know inside and out. Our lawyers can help you to spot issues and resolve them before they snowball into problems
  • Ecommerce: whether web or mobile, we know how to manage your IP rights and more in your key ecommerce contracts
  • Data protection and privacy: you can find out more about our data protection practice here
  • IP audits: most businesses do not know what rights they hold or where the risk areas lie. An IP audit shines a light in these dark IP corners so you can plan for the future
  • IP strategy: technology and social media mean that IP is in a constant state of flux. We help you manage your IP risks and maximise IP value

Who have our Partners worked with?

  • Sky UK
  • BBC
  • GB3 Limited
  • Busy Bees Nurseries
  • Kitbag (online retail), Supponor (digital advertising replacement), Interregional Sports Group (sports rights agency), Ceefox Sports (sports advertising agency) and AIG (sponsor)

Client testimonials

“The term ‘trusted advisor’ is often over-used, but the Cities Unlocked Programme at Microsoft had one in Natalie Griffiths. Her ability to seek and find the appropriate middle ground ensured the partnership was built in a mutually considered and respectful way.”

– Jarnail Chudge, User Experience Architect for the Cities Unlocked Programme at Microsoft

“Rebecca Kelly exceeded expectations from the first phone call; not only did I get sound advice on protecting our company, I got brilliant commercial advice that has already helped me shape future deals and increase revenue.”

– Managing Director, GB3 Limited

“Asad Ali’s legal advice and business support has been invaluable over the last 16 years. His speed of response, pragmatic approach and ability to cut through the jargon is both refreshing and reassuring.”

– Chris Nriapa, Marketing Director, Sentrysis Limited

“Alison Hastie brings a pragmatic and commercially-minded approach to her legal work and has been a critical part of the team in ensuring the success of a number of our core contracts.”

– Group Procurement Director, Centrica Plc

Key Contacts

Nicky Androsov

Partner

Intellectual Property

Carol Copland

Partner

Commercial Contracts

Brian Miller

Legal Counsel

IP/IT, Data Protection & Commercial

Lisa Logan

Corporate & Commercial Partner

News and Insights from our Partners


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