Passing off

At Gepp Solicitors, our experienced intellectual property solicitors advise businesses on passing off claims, brand protection and safeguarding valuable commercial goodwill. We take swift and effective action to prevent competitors from unfairly benefiting from the reputation your business has worked hard to establish.

Passing off occurs when a business misrepresents its goods or services in a way that causes customers to believe they are connected with another business. This can damage your reputation, confuse customers and result in financial loss.

Passing off claims are commonly used where a business has not registered a trade mark but has developed significant goodwill and recognition in its brand, products or services.

To establish a successful passing off claim, three key elements must usually be proven:

1. Goodwill – demonstrating that your business has established a valuable reputation or brand identity in the marketplace.
2. Misrepresentation – showing that another party has misled customers into believing their goods or services are associated with your business.
3. Damage – proving that the misrepresentation has caused, or is likely to cause, harm to your business, reputation or commercial interests.

These elements help demonstrate that your business has built a valuable reputation, that customers are being misled and that your commercial interests are at risk of harm.

Our intellectual property solicitors can assess your circumstances and advise on the most effective way to protect your brand, enforce your rights and minimise commercial damage.

Whether you are seeking to stop a competitor trading on your reputation or defending allegations made against your business, our team can provide practical and commercially focused legal advice.

Our intellectual property solicitors advise businesses across Chelmsford, Essex and the surrounding areas on protecting brands, enforcing intellectual property rights and resolving commercial disputes.

We understand the importance of reputation, goodwill and customer trust. Our advice is practical, commercially focused and designed to help businesses protect the value they have built.

If you believe another business is benefiting from your reputation, using branding that is confusingly similar to yours or damaging your commercial goodwill, our experienced intellectual property solicitors are here to help.

Contact Gepp Solicitors today to discuss your situation and find out how we can help protect your business.

For more information or advice

Contact Justin Emerson on:
Call: 01245 228101 or
email: emersonj@gepp.co.uk

Areas of expertise

• Copyright Enforcement
• False Representation
• Intellectual Property Infringement