Trade Mark Bully - Claim Form shock - IP Pro Bono Scheme

Well maybe only as far as IPEC

It's a well-known myth that legal advice is unaffordable.

It's also  generally assumed that lawyers won't help you for free in any commercial matter.

This is now wrong with the launch of a new service today 17 October 2016 to provide free assistance to those who can't afford it in the UK intellectual property scene.

This post is not for the intellectual property professionals, it's for those people who need help but believe they can't afford it and are tempted to do nothing when they receive aggressive letters from lawyers about some issue of a name, unauthorised use of a photograph or design or, worse still, something that mentions the evil patent word.

The IP pro bono scheme was launched today by Sean Dennehey, Acting

Sean Dennehey

Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office. The service will not be provided by the IPO, who grant trademarks designs and patents and also provide mediation services and also operate a rather sterling phone helpline. The service providers will be fully qualified members of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, (who are providing the administration - good guys) the Chartered Institute of Trademark Attorneys or the Intellectual Property Lawyers Association

If you need help the first thing is to go to the new website http://www.ipprobono.org.uk/  download an application form and outline your problem. If you don't have access to a computer or scanning facitlites get to one of the PATLIB libraries for help.

It's never a great thing to be litigant in person, if you can get some professional assistance. For matters relating to intellectual property, particularly claims that are made in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court any one of the above organisations can help you find paid advice. This scheme is for those who find themselves threatened or abused but don't have the resources to cope.


While the Daily Mail and others have highlighted the problems of County Court Judgements for debt, a default judgement in a trademark infringement matter can also result in a charging order on your house that means you can't sell it or other similar civil remedies. There are people in this position because they couldn't or did't get help. The purpose of this scheme is so that it doesn't happen again. Even when you find you are in the wrong, there are ways to minimise the pain and most IP owners would prefer those solutions rather than silence.