TV Personality Cashes in on Brand Endorsement Opportunity

Facts: One of our clients is a well-known TV chef. We advised him to protect not only the name of his famous restaurant by trademark registration, but also his name. We filed applications that protected his personal name as a registered trade mark, not only for restaurants but for an extensive range of goods and services including kitchen utensils, books, videos, entertainment, education and training, hotel services, and food and drink products. This enabled him to appoint consultants to licence his name to companies supplying those goods and services in exchange for a licence fee so that they could use his name as an endorsement for their products and services. Without protecting image and trademark name rights (by trade mark registration), even a well-known personality’s name and image are not protected under UK.