Marcus Collins

Marcus advises on electoral law issues including campaign funding, transparency in online engagement, foreign interference investigations, defamation, and compliance with UK election legislation, supporting political organisations, social media platforms, and individuals.

• Assisted a social media platform provider in relation to an investigation into a foreign actor’s alleged attempts to interfere with the outcome of elections and referendums.
• Advised on regulated, electoral campaign funding issues.
• Advised on transparency and fairness in online community engagement content encouraging participation in voting.
• Advised on various issues under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 and Representation of the People Acts.
• Advised a dismissed local councillor on reputation management and potential defamation issues.

Marcus advises on defamation, greenwashing, and reputation risks for individuals, corporates, and online platforms, including managing harmful reviews, misleading advertising, and unlawful interference with client commercial relationships.

• Advised an art gallery business in a potential defamation matter concerning Google Review comments.
• Advised a major social media platform operator on a variety of defamation and reputation management content issues.
• Advised a dismissed local authority councillor on reputation management and potential defamation issues.
• Advised a number of clients on ‘greenwashing’ and other misleading advertising matters causing harm to their reputation.
• Advised on ‘unlawful’ interference matters where adverse parties have attempted to interfere in the client’s commercial relationships with third parties.

Marcus advises on trade mark prosecution, infringement, and disputes, copyright, designs, and domain names, representing global brands and SMEs in litigation, oppositions, and portfolio management across pharmaceuticals, sports, retail, social media, and luxury sectors.

• Represented Sandoz Limited and related group companies in complex trade mark infringement and passing off litigation.
• Represented iconic international brands in the sports, social media, pharmaceuticals, and retail sectors.
• Represented the Canadian distributor of a major high-street cosmetics chain in a dispute regarding the group’s internet domain name.
• Defended a major cruise line in an alleged trade mark infringement and passing off matter arising out of the naming of a new vessel.
• Defended a small clothing manufacturer in a complex trade marks invalidation and revocation dispute at the suit of a former high-street chain of department stores.

Marcus advises life sciences clients on IP matters including trade marks, branding, and infringement through to UK and international trade mark prosecution. He also advises on domain names, industrial design, copyright, defamation, advertising standards matters, and social media issues.

• Successfully defended entities in the Sandoz group against an alleged registered trade mark infringement and passing off claim in the High Court brought by the Glaxo group regarding the use of the colour purple per se for a dry powder inhaler used to deliver a generic version of Glaxo’s multi-billion-dollar blockbuster asthma/COPD drug, Seretide.
• Represented Sandoz Limited in a UK trade mark opposition against the Glaxo group before the Intellectual Property Office regarding Glaxo’s attempt to register a colour per se as a trade mark.
• Represented Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in pharmaceutical trade mark clearance, filing, prosecution, and maintenance matters.
• Represented Novartis AG in trade mark clearance and branding matters.
• Represented Pfizer Inc on copyright advisory and internet domain name dispute issues.
• Represented Lloyds Pharmacy in trade mark portfolio management matters.

Marcus advises sports clients on IP matters including trade marks, branding and infringement through to UK and international trade mark prosecution. He also advises on domain names, industrial design, copyright, defamation, advertising standards, and social media issues.

• Represented the NHL (National Hockey League) for the sport of ice hockey in trade mark matters, including trade mark clearance; cease and desist matters; trade mark filing, prosecution and maintenance matters; opposition; and copy approval.
• Represented the MLS (Major League Soccer) in trade mark matters, including trade mark clearance; trade mark filing, prosecution and maintenance matters.
• Advising a prominent, London-based professional soccer club on trade mark protection and infringement matters.
• Represented a start-up, private equity-funded ‘padel’ playing venue business in respect of branding and trade mark registration issues.

Marcus advises media clients on IP matters including trade marks, branding and infringement through to UK and international trade mark prosecution. He also advises on domain names, industrial design, copyright, defamation, advertising standards, and social media issues.

• Advised in a High Court defamation case in which Facebook was claimed to be a publisher and where the claimant sued the wrong entity.
• Represented a major operator of international, social media platforms on a wide range of UK matters including social media content issues (defamation claims, online scamming, distance selling issues, hate speech issues, ‘wrong entity’ issues, copyright issues, and trade mark issues); together with regulatory aspects of social media (the Online Safety Act, jurisdictional issues, and electoral law issues).
• Represented the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in UK trade mark infringement, passing off, and copyright matters.
• Represented a major satellite TV channel on its UK and EU trade mark matters.
• Represented the German publisher Gruner & Jahr in UK trade mark opposition matters.

Marcus advises financial services clients on IP matters including trade marks, branding and infringement through to UK and international prosecution. He also advises on domain names, industrial design, copyright, defamation, and social media issues.

• Advised a major Singaporean private equity investment business in relation to an opposition to its name change by a well-known UK-based private equity fund.
• Advised a major European bank in relation to trade mark portfolio management and cease and desist matters in the UK and EU.
• Advised an EU start-up enterprise in receipt of private equity funding on its branding for a ‘padel’ tennis sports venue business.
• Conducted numerous soft IP due diligence projects in financing transactions.
• Advised on taking security over IP assets in financing and restructuring transactions.

Member of INTA (International Trademark Association)

Member of PTMG (the Pharmaceutical Trade Mark Group)

Former sessional lecturer on trade marks at Queen Mary College, University of London