IP Assets Are Your Most Valuable — And Most Vulnerable — Business Assets
For many organisations, intellectual property is their primary source of competitive advantage. Brands, patents, trade secrets, copyrights, and proprietary technology represent years of investment and differentiation — and they are increasingly at risk. Counterfeiting, trademark infringement, domain name abuse, and IP theft in the digital environment have all escalated dramatically, while the legal landscape for IP protection has become both more complex and more valuable to navigate effectively.
At Baretzky & Partners LLP, we approach intellectual property as a strategic asset management challenge — not just a legal compliance exercise. As an authorised EUIPO service provider (Reg. No. 107758), our IP specialists have a proven track record in European trademark registration, brand protection, and IP risk management for organisations operating globally. Our practice covers the full lifecycle of intellectual property: from registration and portfolio management through to infringement investigation and M&A IP due diligence.
European Trademark Registration: The EUIPO Advantage
European Union trademark registration through EUIPO (the European Union Intellectual Property Office) provides protection across all 27 EU member states with a single application — one of the most cost-effective and comprehensive forms of IP protection available to organisations with European operations or markets.
As an authorised EUIPO service provider, Baretzky & Partners manages the full EU trademark registration process: initial trademark search and clearance to identify conflicts and assess registrability, filing and prosecution of the application through the EUIPO examination process, opposition proceedings where third parties challenge the application, and ongoing trademark portfolio management and renewal.
The Madrid Protocol provides a pathway for extending trademark protection internationally through a single application — making it the preferred mechanism for organisations seeking protection in multiple jurisdictions simultaneously. Our team manages Madrid Protocol applications and coordinates with local counsel in non-EU jurisdictions to build comprehensive global trademark portfolios.
Our track record includes successful trademark registrations for clients across Europe, Asia, and the Americas — including organisations in financial services, technology, professional services, and consumer goods sectors.
Brand Protection and Enforcement: Protecting What You Have Registered
Registration is only the beginning of effective trademark protection. In the digital economy, brand abuse — counterfeit goods, online infringement, domain name disputes, and social media impersonation — represents a growing and rapidly evolving threat that requires active monitoring and enforcement.
Our brand protection practice provides brand monitoring and watch services that identify infringement as it emerges, enabling early intervention before significant damage is done. When infringement is identified, our approach combines legal action — cease and desist strategy, opposition proceedings, and litigation preparation — with cyber intelligence support to investigate the scope and source of infringement and gather evidence that supports enforcement.
Counterfeit investigation is a specialist discipline that requires both legal authority and investigative capability. Our team has experience investigating counterfeit operations across multiple jurisdictions — coordinating with customs authorities, law enforcement agencies, and e-commerce platforms to disrupt infringement at scale.
Domain name disputes under the UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy) provide a faster and less expensive alternative to litigation for recovering domains that infringe registered trademarks. We manage UDRP proceedings from complaint preparation through to decision, with a strong success rate in recovering domain names for legitimate brand owners.
IP Risk Management: Building a Strategic Framework
Risk management in IP infringement is a critical component for businesses that rely heavily on intellectual property assets. Many organisations manage their IP reactively — responding to infringement when it is discovered rather than systematically assessing and managing IP exposure as a strategic risk.
Our IP risk management advisory helps organisations build comprehensive IP risk management frameworks — identifying where IP exposure exists, quantifying the risk, and building protective strategies that align with business objectives. This includes IP risk assessment, IP asset strategy development, patent protection strategy, trade secret protection frameworks, copyright advisory, and IP policy and procedure development.
Trade secret protection deserves particular emphasis in 2026. The EU Trade Secrets Directive has significantly strengthened the legal protection available for confidential business information across EU member states — but only for organisations that have implemented adequate measures to keep information confidential. Without documented trade secret protection programmes, the legal protections may not apply.
IP Assessment in M&A Due Diligence: Don’t Acquire Hidden Liability
In any merger, acquisition, or significant investment, intellectual property is a critical due diligence consideration. IP assets can represent a substantial portion of the transaction value — and IP liabilities can significantly affect the risk profile of the deal.
Comprehensive IP due diligence covers ownership and chain of title review (ensuring the target actually owns the IP it claims), freedom to operate analysis (assessing whether the target’s products or processes infringe third-party rights), IP portfolio due diligence (evaluating the strength and coverage of registered IP), IP valuation advisory, licensing agreement review, and IP liability assessment.
Successor liability for IP infringement is a real risk in acquisitions — if the target has been infringing third-party IP, the acquirer may inherit that liability. Early IP due diligence allows acquirers to identify and price this risk before transaction close, or to require remediation as a condition of completion.
The EUIPO Authorised Service Provider Advantage
Baretzky & Partners’ status as an authorised EUIPO service provider (Reg. No. 107758) reflects both our expertise in European trademark practice and our commitment to the quality standards required for official authorisation. This status provides clients with confidence that their EUIPO filings are handled by practitioners who meet the professional standards required by the EU’s official IP office.
Our track record includes the successful grant of full European Trademark Rights for clients across multiple sectors — demonstrating the practical results that expert trademark management delivers.
Protecting Your Brand in the Digital Economy
The digital economy has created new vectors for brand abuse that traditional trademark protection was not designed to address. Social media impersonation, app store fraud, keyword advertising infringement, and the use of confusingly similar marks in online marketplaces all require proactive monitoring and enforcement strategies that go beyond conventional trademark management.
Our online brand protection advisory covers the full range of digital brand risks — from monitoring and early identification through to platform takedowns, UDRP proceedings, and coordination with law enforcement for criminal counterfeit operations. We combine legal expertise with cyber intelligence capability to provide enforcement support that is effective in the digital environment.
Contact Baretzky & Partners for IP Advisory
Whether you are seeking to register a European trademark, investigate infringement, conduct M&A IP due diligence, or build a comprehensive IP risk management framework, our authorised EUIPO service provider team is available for immediate consultation.
Contact Baretzky & Partners LLP to start a trademark application or discuss your IP advisory needs. All enquiries are handled in strict confidence.
Baretzky & Partners LLP is an authorised EUIPO service provider (Reg. No. 107758). We provide strategic risk mitigation, legal affairs and crisis mitigation, and international information policy and compliance specialist counsel. We do not provide litigation services. All investigative services are provided by our European offices only.