Your strategic advisor
We think about the 'big picture'
At Mewburn Ellis we are different, we take a strategic approach to brand management, looking at the bigger picture to ensure the right commercial IP decisions are made for your business. We take pride in being proactive in our advice and in being passionate about your success. We know that you do not want a firm that just reports on issues in isolation from your business needs. Making sure we are familiar with your current and future plans is a key ingredient in our approach. We are always ready to advise when asked, but are also willing to take the initiative and recommend how best to protect, enhance and enforce your IP rights to help you realise your long term goals and obtain competitive advantage.
Whether you are focussing on the domestic market or need a larger, more international strategy, we have the knowledge, experience and trusted global network of people and firms to support you – complex, strategic advice is what we do best. Our clients welcome and respect our holistic outlook, which leads to innovative and commercially credible guidance to help you address your business challenges and thrive.
The best way to demonstrate this is through some case studies.
1 Case Study: In-N-Out Burgers
In-N-Out Burgers is a substantial family owned business that operates iconic quick-service burger restaurants. First established in Baldwin Park, California in 1948, In-N-Out Burgers places great emphasis on the quality and consistency of its products and customer experiences. This has led In-N-Out Burgers to achieve widespread popularity with a highly loyal customer base, being rated as one of the top fast food restaurants in a number of respected customer satisfaction surveys.
In-N-Out Burgers’ popularity and following extends beyond the USA, cemented through its various overseas ‘pop-up’ restaurant events, which are exceptionally popular whenever and wherever they take place. Furthermore, In-N-Out Burgers has achieved something of a cult status around the world, in part due to the fact its restaurants are often frequented by celebrities and famous patrons who often detail their visits on social media.
In-N-Out Burgers’ branding, trade marks and other intellectual property are an extremely important asset to the business. The marks that In-N-Out Burgers has used over the years have become strongly associated with it and allow its customers to identify In-N-Out Burgers and differentiate it from others in the burger and quick-service restaurant marketplace. For this reason, In-N-Out Burgers has understandably sought global protection for its branding through trade mark registrations.
2 Case Study: EL&N
We took over responsibility for the trade mark portfolio of luxury café chain EL&N in 2019. At the time, the brand was still relatively new, having launched in August 2017, and there were only a handful of cafes in the UK. However, they had ambitious plans for rapid international expansion. As of January 2024, there are 12 EL&N cafes across London, Manchester and Edinburgh in the UK, and another 21 in countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
One of our first tasks was therefore to develop an international filing strategy to expand protection for the trade mark EL&N to many new countries all over the world. This resulted in the filing of at least 50 new trade mark applications. It was, and still is, vital that the trade mark protection could keep pace with the rapid expansion of the brand, but the advantages of seeking broad, robust protection, needed to be balanced carefully against other considerations such as budgetary constraints and the difficulties with enforcement of certain types of trade marks in some jurisdictions.
Social media, and particularly Instagram, is a vital marketing tool for EL&N. As the brand’s popularity has grown, it has therefore been essential for us to tackle infringement by third parties on Instagram. We work with EL&N to assess any infringements identified in order to categorise the risk posed by each one and advise on the best strategy to deal with it.
In some cases, this has led us to send cease and desist letters to infringers, file and prosecute trade mark oppositions and cancellations in countries around the world, and/or pursue action before the local authorities. In others, we have taken a different approach, and have successfully disabled the Instagram account through a report of trade mark infringement to Instagram. The aim is always to protect the EL&N brand and reputation in the most practical and cost-effective way.
Mewburn Ellis’ commitment to the growth of our brand EL&N, as well as their dedication to protecting our reputation, is truly commendable. We are immensely proud to work alongside Rebecca and the entire team at Mewburn Ellis, who consistently demonstrate their exceptional work ethic, diligence, and unwavering commitment to delivering outstanding results. Their efforts have been instrumental in our journey towards success, and we are grateful for their invaluable support.
Alexandra Miller, EL&N Founder
3 Case Study: Sandvik
Sandvik AB is a Swedish multinational engineering company specializing in products and services for mining, rock excavation, rock drilling, rock processing (crushing and screening), metal cutting and machining. The company was founded in Gävleborg County, Sweden, in 1862. In 2022, it had approximately 40,500 employees and a revenue of 112 billion SEK, with sales in around 150 countries.
As well as providing portfolio management and protection guidance, together with enforcement and dispute resolution advice and assistance, we have been engaged by Sandvik to provide strategic advice on high profile branding projects for the company.
One such example is Sandvik’s launch of a new global corporate brand identity in September 2023. Prior to this launch, we were engaged by Sandvik’s in-house trade mark team to provide strategic advice on the protectability of various brand assets, particularly including new sonic logos (or sound marks). Following extensive research into the legal provisions, practice guidelines, case law and precedential cases, we advised that a non-distinctiveness objection from the UK IPO against an application to register the sound mark was highly likely. However, the persuasiveness of other registered sound marks, especially at the EUIPO, plus the changing landscape of consumer attitudes and perceptions towards sound marks inherently being about to function as trade marks encouraged us to still try to secure registered protection. Unfortunately, as a new brand asset which had not been used at the time of application, the sound mark applications could not rely on evidence of acquired distinctiveness.
We believe that the sound mark application that we ultimately filed at the UK IPO may have been the first ever ‘series’ application for non-traditional marks, such were the difficulties faced with actually submitting the application at the Office. We successfully argued for the acceptability of the two sonic logos as a series of two sound marks, but faced a much greater challenge with persuading the Examiner about the inherent distinctiveness of the mark. Despite submitting extensive arguments and evidence in support of Sandvik’s case, the first instance Examiner was not persuaded and maintained a non-distinctiveness refusal.
We therefore requested a hearing and worked with a barrister on the preparation and presentation of further arguments and marketplace evidence that highlighted the evolution of sounds marks, especially within the industrial and manufacturing sector in which Sandvik operates. Those arguments were successful, the non-distinctiveness objection was overcome and the application accepted in its entirety on the basis of inherent distinctiveness. This decision marks a very notable and welcome change in practice and approach from the UK IPO and may represent something of a ‘landmark’ moment for sound marks. The sound mark proceeded to registration in December 2023.
Read here for press coverage on Sandvik’s rebrand.
We have also previously provided strategic advice to Sandvik regarding the protection and application strategy for other parts of the business, notably including the Sandvik Coromant company that supplies cutting tools and services to the metal cutting industry and Seco, one of the world’s largest providers of comprehensive metal cutting solutions for milling, stationary tools, holemaking and tooling systems.
© 2026 Mewburn Ellis
