Gin is big business, worth over £600m in the UK as reported by the Wine and Spirts Trade Association. The recent boom in gin purchase and consumption has led to an increase in new and pop-up gin-focused bars. In a crowded market, producers need to create not only a quality product, but a distinctive brand that stands out among a surplus of competitors.
Located in the heart of Halifax, Gin Lane is a premium bar, lounge and retail space offering two hundred varieties of the juniper-based spirit. Concerned by increasing competition, Gin Lane recognised the need to safeguard one of the elements that makes the brand unique, and signals to customers the quality of their product – their visual identity.
Shortly after the brand was established, we were appointed by Gin Lane to register their trade mark in the UK. A registered trade mark would ensure protection for the Gin Lane logo, providing tools to prevent potential infringement, and maintain the brand equity Gin Lane had worked so hard to build.
Following an initial search process to ensure the mark could be registered in the UK, an application was filed at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) and proceeded to registration shortly thereafter.
“Securing a trade mark for the Gin Lane brand early in our business’s development was essential for us to expand and grow with confidence,” Gavin Morton, Director of Gin Lane said. “We know our brand will remain recognisable in the market, therefore, we can continue to put investment behind it, including opening up more bars and online retail shops in the future”.
Having secured their trade mark, Gin Lane can now take legal action against parties who attempt to register conflicting trade marks, protecting their visual assets and preventing any resulting devaluation of the Gin Lane brand in the market. We continue to monitor filing activity to identify early any potentially infringing mark.
We are delighted that Gin Lane now have a UK trade mark registration for their Gin Lane logo. Since registering their logo, Gin Lane have been able to enforce their rights in this registration against other companies who have tried to use a similar name in relation to similar goods and services.
