Through varied products and services to suit every budget, The Trademark Helpline Ltd is educating and protecting firms from the financial ravages of trademark disputes
It’s safe to say that Jonathan Paton, founder and CEO of The Trademark Helpline Ltd, likes standing up for other businesses. His long-standing centre since 2008 is founded on this very principle, but the inspiration for setting up the firm came earlier.
Jonathan Paton, founder and CEO of The Trademark Helpline LtdJonathan was running a successful web design and marketing business with over “2,000 SME clients,” when one came to him in distress. They had become involved in a website trademark dispute with a larger competitor and had received a cease and desist letter.
Having spent significant funds on their website and online presence, the client was asked, or rather, demanded to take their website down, surrender their domain to the competitor, and rebrand. “It became clear to me that this was a bullying tactic from a large organisation trying to use their trademark to intimidate my client into surrendering their website to them,” explains Jonathan.
The next step involved reaching out to trademark attorneys, but their hourly rates were too high. So, Jonathan decided to step up for his client: “I made the decision to support my client directly and argued why I disagreed with the implication that our client’s brand and website were trading off their goodwill, I also applied for a trademark for my client. When the trademark application was opposed by the same company, I argued the matter with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and my client’s trademark was approved.”
Once Jonathan saw the “peace of mind” the process gave his once fearful client, he decided that all his firm’s clientele needed extra support where trademarks were concerned. “We began offering a trademark search to all new clients, not just checking the UKIPO but also Global Trademarks, Domains and Companies House.”
The feedback was so strong that Jonathan set up The Trademark Helpline Ltd to help businesses with trademark registrations, disputes and ongoing monitoring and support; thus providing an “affordable alternative to a solicitor.” Today, it is one of the largest registrars of trademarks in the UK and globally.
The Trademark Helpline Ltd offers a varied scope of products and services, from a self-service solution to provide analysis and research where the clients take the next steps themselves, to application services where the team provides “guidance and carries out instructions”, and hands-on “ongoing representation and monitoring services where we take a small monthly retainer starting from £29 per month.”
Interested businesses can expect a free consultation and honest feedback on “what you can, can’t and should do to make sure you are being vigilant.” The proposition is simple, yet wildly effective; namely that a “relatively low investment today can save you tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal disputes down the line.”
Jonathan’s seen firsthand that knowledge among functioning businesses on trademark-related matters is not strong. “I thought at the time that it would be lots of startups enquiring, however, the majority of our new business comes from companies who are already established and where something has happened which has alerted them to trademarks and triggered them into taking action,” he explains. “I am still surprised by how many seasoned business owners in the UK don’t realise they need a trademark.”
Jonathan and his team have encountered challenges in their growth journey, this included building a sense of trust “that a team of trademark experts is better placed to help than a regulated solicitor with no trademark experience.” They have also worked hard to build relationships with trusted solicitors and trademark attorneys in the UK and beyond so “clients had access to local representation when required and to make sure we could escalate matters legally when required.”
It isn’t surprising that a business founded on such ambitious goals has similarly ambitious growth plans. For Jonathan and co, this includes launching a “free business platform” which will revolutionise how our customers receive and access information not just on trademarks but their entire business portfolio and intellectual property.”
The firm’s monitoring services will also get an upgrade to “reduce the price across the board by leveraging AI and machine learning to carry out analysis and risk scoring.”
Ever the intrepid entrepreneur, Jonathan’s five-year plan involves taking the current 5,000 client base and supercharging it to over “200,000 active users” and effectively dealing with “46,000 trademark searches and 7,000 ongoing monitoring reports per month.”
Developing strategic partnerships is key to the future, and where their “technology and services” will be made available “through referral and white-label partnerships” with solicitors, accountants, graphic designers and business coaches and advisers, and finding those “who already have their client’s trust and educating them whilst also providing an obvious and easy additional income stream to their business.” Jonathan is also focused on being able to offer clients a wider range of services including “web marketing and SEO services.” All in all, it looks like an exciting trajectory.
You can schedule a free consultation with JP’s trademark experts via their website www.thetrademarkhelpline.com