Beck Greener

Firm overview:

Specialist European firm Beck Greener offers a boutique service to major international clients. The firm has carved out a reputation as a go-to practice for assistance with complex IP requirements including both traditional and non-traditional marks and provides a one-stop-shop for trademark matters. Word of mouth has led to a first-class client roster that is all the more impressive for the firm’s size, which includes household names such as Estée Lauder, Prime Hydration, PwC and Four Seasons Hotels as well as A-list individual artists, such as Ed Sheeran, Eminem (Marshall Bruce Mathers III) and Pharrell Williams.

As well as handling extensive trademark portfolios on a day-to-day basis, Beck Greener is among the most active firms before the High Court and various administrative tribunals and has a strong record in headline trademark disputes.

Team overview:

With over 30 years’ experience in trademark prosecution and contentious IP disputes, partner Ian Bartlett heads the trademarks team. Recent highlights include defending Fontana Foods against claims brought by the government of Cyprus and the Halloumi Foundation; and continuing his protection and enforcement work for longstanding client Estée Lauder. Bartlett is noted by his colleagues and peers as: ‘among the outstanding names of his generation and is widely recognised as such’.

Dual-qualified as a UK trademark attorney and an Irish trademark agent, Catherine Jewell has a fast-growing trademark profile and wide-ranging caseload. Jewell leads on work for a number of high-growth companies and advises on IP issues across the trademarks and designs spectrum.

Other notable members of the team gaining increasing recognition for their trademark practice include associates Duncan Morgan, who has played a key role in many of Beck Greener’s headline matters, and Kashif Syed, whose work includes representing a broad range of industry-leading clients in complex contentious matters as well as handling worldwide portfolios.

Key matters:

Non-Contentious:

• Representing international music star Ed Sheeran

Beck Greener continues to represent Ed Sheeran and his company Sidewind. This includes advising on, filing and prosecuting trademark applications worldwide for, inter alia, ‘Ed Sheeran’ and ‘Gingerbread Man Records’, as well as expanding protection across the world for four new marks and several concerning ongoing international concert tours.

Bartlett and Duncan Morgan are key team members for the work.

• Managing trademark portfolio for MPL Communications (McCartney Productions)

Beck Greener has cleared, filed, prosecuted and enforced trademarks for MPL, one of the world’s largest privately owned music publishers, for over 20 years. MPL Communications is the umbrella company for the business interests of iconic musician Sir Paul McCartney.

Highlights of the past year have included prosecuting trademark applications for ‘MPL Ventures’ (relating to various venture capital operations) and Sir Paul McCartney’s children’s books with the marks ‘Grandude’ and ‘Hey Grandude’. The firm also continues to manage the ‘McCartney’ and ‘Wings’ trademarks worldwide, including advising on and prosecuting trademark oppositions in several jurisdictions against similar marks.

• Advising the in-house legal team at PwC

Beck Greener is advising the in-house legal team at Big Four global accounting and professional services firm PwC. The team advises on trademarks across the spectrum of PwC’s activities, including accountancy, consultancy and outreach. Other work includes assisting with high level clearance work, freedom-to-operate, and complex applications, as well as other major brand protection matters.

Contentious:

• Represented Fontana Food in Halloumi trademark dispute

Swedish food company Fontana has been involved for a number of years in a complex dispute with the Government of Cyprus and the Halloumi Foundation over the latter’s claim to the name ‘Halloumi’ and its challenge to Fontana’s marks ‘Grilloumi’ and ‘Grilloumaki’.

Ian Bartlett handled the defence against the Halloumi Foundation’s attack on Fontana’s UK IP. Decisions were handed down in December 2023 in the client’s favour. The Foundation appealed to the High Court and Bartlett appeared as Fontana’s advocate at the appeal hearing in July 2024; the September 2024 judgment was again in Fontana’s favour.

• Handling trademark matters for Tillotts Pharma

Beck Greener acts for Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company Tillotts in trademark matters across the UK, US, EU and globally. Over the past year, the team has acted for the client on a wide range of contentious trademark issues, including disputes related to various foreign trademark opposition, non-use revocation and invalidation proceedings. The firm also provides advice on non-contentious matters, managing the company’s international portfolio of marks.

Clients:

The Brits, The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Condé Nast Publications (Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Glamour, The New Yorker and others), CrossFit, Ed Sheeran, Eminem, The Estée Lauder Companies, Knight Frank, Lewis Hamilton, Oasis (Noel and Liam Gallagher), Pharrell Williams, Prime Hydration, Skytap (part of Kyndryl), Tapestry (Coach, Stuart Weizmann and Kate Spade), TED Talks and TED Conferences, Tillotts Pharma, Vevo