Rapid responses to rapidly changing issues
Who are they?
Marks & Clerk is the UK's leading firm of patent and trade mark attorneys. Over many years we have delivered consistently high levels of national, regional and trade press coverage surrounding the issues of intellectual property protection.
What was the problem?
Before appointing Marketforce, Marks & Clerk received less than 20 pieces of coverage a year - all in regional publications. Our brief was to increase this significantly and broaden their media profile into national media. More recently the brief was enlarged to reach an international media audience.
How did we help?
Marks & Clerk compiled a report providing an in-depth insight into worldwide patent activity, which was then launched at an international exhibition, held in the US. The Nanotech Report was compiled, looking at the areas of stem cell research, bio-nanotechnology and cancer therapeutics. We used the information and knowledge gathered from this research to create a news story - that it was clear that investment into stem cell research was continuing apace, despite the controversial nature of the field.
We liaised with the exhibition's organisers and briefed all journalists who had registered to attend before they went to the US. We then sourced a list of relevant US titles to launch the report in the UK and US simultaneously. We also researched a list of relevant British MPs who we felt would be interested in the findings.
More recently we have worked on a major report on intellectual property issues in China, focusing on key industry sectors.
In addition to this, Marketforce continues to track interesting patent and trade mark cases, presenting the firm's partners as media commentators. Using this technique, we have gained coverage on issues such as the patenting of software, the Blackberry patent dispute, and numerous trade mark disputes involving consumer brands such as Kit Kat, Arcadia, Gillette and Nike's alleged use of Hackney Council's logo.
What does this mean?
The story from the Biotechnology Report was featured on the front page of the Financial Times and in a wide range of key pharmaceutical titles in both the UK and the US. In 2005, Marks & Clerk appeared in the Financial Times on average once a month as a result of our ongoing campaign. We now deliver over 200 mentions and articles in national, vertical trade and regional publications each year.
