Brantano - IP and Insolvency

Red Court Shoe

Author Almighty1

Reproduction licensed by the author

Source Wikipedia

Jane Lambert

An interesting headline in the East Midlands section of The Business Desk website that caught my eye was Brantano IP assets up for sale 22 June 2017. The article stated that:

"Administrators of Brantano, the stricken Leicestershire shoe firm, are selling off the firm’s brand and intellectual property assets via Metis Partners."

Metis Partners describes itself as "a multi-disciplinary IP firm with a proven track record in the assessment, exploitation, monetisation, valuation and sale of intellectual property assets (“IP assets”)". Part of its business is the sale of intellectual property rights of troubled businesses.  The firm keeps a blog called "The Musings of Metis" with some interesting articles on this topic including Insolvency and the Hidden Brand Benefit 23 Aug 2013 and the Hidden Treasure of IP After Insolvency  28 June 2016 by Michelle Korman and Negotiation 31 Jan 2015 by Morven Fraser.

I found the following announcement on Meris' website:

"Tony Barrell and Mike Jervis of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the Joint Administrators of Brantano Retail Limited (in Administration) (“Brantano” or the “Company”), have appointed Metis Partners to support the marketing and sale of the intellectual property (“IP”) assets relating to the Company."

These include:

• "Goodwill Rights in the Brantano Corporate and Product Brands
• Rights in the Registered Trade Marks and Unregistered Trade Marks
• Rights in Unregistered Designs
• Website Content & Domain Name
• Software Behind the E-commerce Website."

Anybody thinking of acquiring any of those assets must submit his or her bid by 12:00 on 30 June 2017 which does not leave much time for carrying out searches, risk analyses and asset valuations.  If a bid is to be anything more than guesswork a prospective purchaser will need professional advice on the accounting, legal and marketing issues.  If a bid is accepted, specialist legal and other professional advice will also be required in the negotiation and drafting of the assignments and other agreements.

Anyone requiring amplification or clarification of any of those points should call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

Intellectual Property and the Footwear and Textile Industries

Nottingham Lace Market

Author Allan Murray-Rust

Source Wikipedia

Creative Commons Licence

Jane Lambert


According to the East Midlands Textile Association ("Emtex") the East Midlands has the highest concentration of clothing and textile companies in the UK. Nottingham lace, Leicester knitwear, Northampton shoes have an enormous international reputation founded on branding, craftsmanship and design.

These intellectual assets that are protected by registered trade marks, registered designs and other intellectual property laws and on the 10 Sept and 7 Oct 2915 I shall explore such legal protection in a seminar for MBL entitled Intellectual Property and the Fashion Industry.  In this seminar I will cover the following topics:

• What sort of IP protection does my employer or client require for his business and where?
• What provisions should I insert in my employer or client's licence or manufacturing agreement?
• What should I do if I find copies or lookalikes of my products in competitors' shops?
• What's Hot? The implementation of s.74 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 - John Kaldor v Lee Ann/Specsavers vASDA/Thomas Pink v Victoria's Secrets
• IP basics; terminology, intellectual assets (brands, designs, technology and works of art and literature), intellectual property (trade marks, registered designs and unregistered design rights, patents, trade marks, law of confidence and action for passing off), institutions (Intellectual Property Office, Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, European Patent Office, World Intellectual Property Organization), Sources of law (treaties and conventions (TRIPs, Paris and Berne), EU legislation, statutes), enforcement. remedies, licensing
• Advising the designer: types of design, aesthetic design, functional design, design registration and equivalent regimes, TRIPS, Paris and Rome Conventions, Designs Directive, Community Design Regulation, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Registered Designs Act 1949, licensing, enforcement
• Advising the manufacturer; patents, trade marks, designs, licensing, cabbage, summary of laws in China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey
• Advising the retailer: trade marks, passing off, searches, agreements with designers and manufacturers
• Dispute resolution: High Court, Patent Court, IPEC (multi track and small claims), IPO examiners' opinions, appointed person
• IP strategy: identifying appropriate rights for particular jurisdictions, selecting and instructing foreign attorneys, watch services.

My seminar in London will take place on 10 Sept 2015 and my seminar in Leeds on 7 Oct 2015. Both will start at 09:30 and end at 17:15 and will earn 6 hours CPD. The standard cost is £480 but there will discounts for season ticket and smart plan subscribers. Register on-line or call  MBL on 0161 793 0984.