Intellectual Property
Our specialist team advises on intellectual property matters across a variety of sectors, including retail, consumer, media and advertising.
We have particular expertise in advising clients in media and advertising agency sectors on copyright, trademarks, designs and licensing. We act for a number of media publishers, and for six of the top 10 advertising agencies in Ireland (as recognised by the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland ADFX Awards).
We advise high profile sports and entertainment personalities on image rights.
We have considerable experience in advising on brand reputation and defamation, having represented newspapers, fashion designers, high street retailers and various high profile personalities for many years.
We work closely with clients on the optimum protection of their brands, products and innovations. This comes from a close knowledge of our clients commercial activities, as well as a depth knowledge of domestic and international intellectual property law.
We regularly advise domestic and international clients on registration and protection of trademarks, and related rights in Ireland and Europe. We advise extensively on trademark disputes before the Irish Courts, and before the Irish and EU trade mark authorities. We also advise on contentious matters concerning industrial designs, information technology and data protection.
Services
Our services cover:
- Copyright
- Protection of brands, products and innovations
- Registration and protection of trade marks
- Trade mark disputes
- Image rights and licensing
- Information technology and data protection
- Brand reputation and Defamation
- Negotiation of agreements on intellectual property rights
- Content supply arrangements
What clients say: Intellectual Property
"Each member of the team provides excellent support and advice. Their response times are always excellent."
‘My contact is Joe O’Malley whose experience and instruction is exceptional and always directed me to highly professional individuals within the firm. He is also well connected and put me in touch with financial backers and potential partners. I have recommended him to several other individuals and have no intention of moving from Hayes.’
‘I would work most closely with David Phelan. I have been working with legal firms both in Ireland and abroad for over 30 years. I can say without hesitation, David is the very best that I have worked with in that time. He deals with a wide range of issues across a number of different spectrums all with the same poise and composure. He makes everyone on calls feel like he has nothing else on, only the work that he is working with you on. Clearly we know that this is not the case. He has built a level of trust with me and a number of teams that we work with that allows all of us to have the peace of mind that David is on it. All of that and he’s just a very nice human being.’
‘David Phelan – Very knowledgeable and reliable partner who leads from the front, always available for a consolidation and will get back to you!
‘Joe O’Malley brings with him an enormous wealth of experience across the whole spectrum of commercial litigation.’
‘Joe O’Malley is one of the best solicitors in the country, if not the best, due to his commitment to the clients’ interests, work-rate, expertise, and depth of knowledge.’
‘Joseph O’Malley is an excellent litigator, combining an excellent knowledge of the law with a strategic approach to achieving the best possible outcome for clients. Robbie Slattery will always know the case inside out, and has an ability to speak plainly to clients so that complex legal ideas are made easily comprehensible.’
‘David Phelan is an expert in this field and is responsive, wise, pragmatic, an excellent communicator and knowledgeable of the media landscape and of his clients’ needs.
‘David Phelan stands out in contractual and media matters. He has a very solid judgement and a calm approach to problematic situations.’
"Joseph O'Malley is intelligent, commercial and exceptionally hard-working"
"He is a strong team leader and provides commercial advice"
"Joe is excellent at negotiating settlements and dealing with complex matters. He has excellent communication skills, perseverance and judgement"
"He is an excellent legal resource. He is very accessible, which is of great comfort"
‘David Phelan is very commercial in his advice.’
‘Joe O’Malley is brilliant – very clever but also commercial and brilliant to deal with. Robbie Slattery is also a very good member of the team.’
'Joseph O’Malley is highly-intelligent, excellent with clients and extremely hard working – the complete package.'
‘Hayes Solicitors is world class. They are capable of handling complex, cross border litigation matters and are tireless and persuasive litigators. I trust partner Joe O’Malley with large and complex litigation matters.’
‘Jeremy Erwin and Joe O’Malley. Very high-quality solicitors.’
'Subject matter expertise. Availability and response times. Commercial and pragmatic. Skilled practitioners with ability to communicate with lay persons to ensure complex matters understood. Ease of access with speedy responses. In particular, Jeremy Erwin and Michael Kelly have proved to be valuable partners on difficult cases and, in addition, proactively volunteered to present to wider team on an interesting and complex topic. ’