Trade marks play an important role in the activities of any business, and a company's trade mark rights will often be a key asset. Accordingly, a detailed analysis of a company's trade mark rights is frequently a precursor to the total or partial sale of a business, enabling buyers, sellers and investors to obtain a clear overview of the extent and strength of the trade mark portfolio.
At Dehns, we have extensive experience of trade mark due diligence, acting both for businesses looking for investors and for those planning to buy or invest in a business. Due diligence exercises frequently involve cooperation with professionals in other fields, and we have extensive experience working alongside accountants, solicitors, banking professionals and venture capitalists as part of wider-ranging due diligence matters.
Trade mark due diligence involves identifying trade mark rights and checking their validity. Rights are identified through searches on the relevant trade mark registers and checks are conducted to ensure that the rights are valid and in force and to establish whether any licences, mortgages or other transactions have been recorded against them. We are also able to provide advice in relation to the implications and likely outcome of any on-going trade mark conflicts.
