Dominic FarnsworthPartner

I am also a member of the Brands, Commercial, Advertising & Marketing and Sports groups.

Having started life as an IP litigator, my practice is now mainly non-contentious dealing with IP rich commercial contracts, management of global IP portfolios, brand disputes and rights management. I am well known for my work in the brand protection, creative industry and sports sectors.

I am dual qualified as a Solicitor (England and Wales and the Republic of Ireland) and a Chartered Trade Mark Attorney.

Member of INTA, ITMA, ECTA, Marques, AIDV, BASL

Trade Mark & IP Portfolio Management

I am one of the rare breed of lawyers jointly qualified as both Solicitor and Trade Mark Attorney. I head up our Intellectual Property Legal Practice Group which manages many thousands of trade marks as well as designs, domains and other IP for clients around the world. I am equally at home whether advising major corporates on a global re-branding exercise, complex trade mark searching and monitoring projects, coordinating trade mark proceedings on a pan-European basis and acting on IP transactions such as licences, assignments, securitizations and brand partnerships.

Brands & IP

I advise on a variety of intellectual property and commercial matters including transactions, disputes and strategic advice across a diverse range of industry sectors. I have particular expertise in the brand sector where I am recognised in the legal directories for work in the advertising and trade mark fields.

Advertising & Marketing

I advise many of the world’s leading advertising agencies and brandowners on IP issues. Typically this could involve clearing advertising campaigns both in the UK and overseas from a legal and regulatory perspective, advising on agency/client agreements, celebrity contracts, brand partnerships, sponsorships and creating/acquiring creative content such as film and music. I also deal with the numerous IP disputes this area generates. The brandowner quest for new ways to reach their audience is reflected in the diversity of instructions I act upon which extend from innovative product design to the creation of branded events to product placement in James Bond movies. Wearing my trade mark attorney hat, I also advises on global brand clearance and trade mark filing programmes for agencies and their clients as well as enforcement.

Sport

Sports is a rights practice sector and I have advised on a number of major sponsorship and brand partnership deals, celebrity endorsements, image rights structures, ambush marketing of the Olympics and World Cup, elite players' disputes with clubs and country, global trade mark filing programmes and brand protection for major brands, intellectual property infringement claims, domain disputes and defending unauthorised use of famous personalities in commercials and in the media. I am also a FIFA Licensed Players Agent.