Kempner & Partners

Kempner & Partners, the specialist intellectual property law firm, has been appointed sole provider of intellectual property advice to one of the UK’s leading decorative paint and wallpaper companies, Farrow & Ball, after a competitive tender.

Farrow & Ball, which is expanding with a number of new store openings in the UK and internationally, is renowned for its high quality, traditionally made products, with famously unusual but evocative names.

Farrow & Ball’s colours, such as ‘Elephant’s Breath’, ‘Middleton Pink’, ‘Cat’s Paw’, ‘Pelt’ and ‘Dead Salmon’, and its name and logo are all protected as registered trade marks and the company was looking for a law firm that would vigorously protect its intellectual property.

Kempner & Partners has been charged with devising and implementing a comprehensive IP strategy to assist Farrow & Ball to protect its rights worldwide, deliver top value from its IP assets, and enforce its rights against those who infringe them. One key objective is to ensure those who are selling paints with the same or similar names to Farrow & Ball’s, or offer to ‘colour match’ their paint, are pursued through the courts if necessary.

Lyn Daplyn, Farrow & Ball Finance Director, said: “‘We were impressed by how Kempner & Partners identified our key IP issues and by their clear and focused recommendations. They really understand our needs, aims and values as well as the significance of protecting our brand which is renowned the world over.

“In particular, their proposed enforcement strategy, using the ever changing legal landscape to our advantage, stood out as the one most suited to our commercial aims and the issues we face. As a dedicated intellectual property practice, their proven track record and personal passion for what they do struck us and set them apart from the other very credible firms with whom we also spoke”.

Richard Kempner, Senior Partner at Kempner & Partners, who, with partner Jason Dainty, led the pitch said: “As a team we enjoyed getting to the root of Farrow & Ball’s IP issues and devising smart strategies to tackle them.”

“Farrow & Ball is a well respected and trusted global brand which fits in well with our ever-growing national and international client base. The company really understands the value of its IP and is moving to prevent others from riding off its coat tails by using the allure of its name and other trade marks to sell cheaper and inferior paint that is supposedly colour matched.”