About us
We make registering a brand or business name simple and affordable.
Unique technology we've developed (US patent pending) checks for similarity as trade mark attorneys do, but with none of their costs. So our clients only pay if their application will succeed.
Since August 2008 we have processed more than 700 orders, with 94% of guaranteed applications succeeding.
We're proud not just for the good legal judgement this shows. Many businesses have been saved money after we advised them their application will fail. A service for which we charge absolutely no fees.
Trade Mark Direct's parent company is a member of The International Trademark Association
Associate and in-house attorneys and paralegals
Alan McBray
Alan is a Former Chief Trade Mark Examiner, UK Patent Office (now IPO)
Dale Campbell
Dale is an Intellectual Property professional with over five years experience
Founders
Dan Scarfe
Dan Scarfe saw the opportunity to use technology and the internet to improve trade mark services in 2002 when a student intern at a major IP firm. But to develop our cutting edge trade mark search software required considerable investment. Raising this, when there was no certainty it would work, was an enormous challenge. So at the same time Dan with his brother Tim set up Dot Net Solutions, a Microsoft Gold Certified partner providing web services to well known companies.
Mark Kingsley-
Williams
In 2004 Mark Kingsley-Williams began to work with Dan on developing the software having been involved in several early stage technology companies as a senior manager and angel investor. These include an internet content company sold to Gameplay plc in 1999 (itself acquired by Game plc), Infinitesima ltd as a director and founding angel investor, and early stage investor in Gamesys ltd one of the UKs leading online gaming companies.
Mark already knew that making the wrong choices with trade marks could be costly. For when at Infinitesima rather than pay the hefty fees quoted by IP lawyers, he decided to try the DIY approach. And after plenty of homework sent off 3 trade mark applications, complete with the non-refundable statutory fees, to the registry. All failed.
So when Dan explained his idea for a high quality, low cost online service the benefit to businesses was obvious.
By early 2008, after many false starts, we had finally developed and tuned our highly effective search and comparison engine (US patent pending). Which we funded ourselves, having been turned down for government R&D grants. Richard Contreras, the third co-founder, joined having held senior roles in telecoms and communications companies in the UK and Australasia, and saw the company through the first year of trading.
The future
Most of our advice is for UK and CTM (EU) trade mark registration and related services, although we also work on applications in all the major registries. We plan to offer our services in other EU and US countries in the near future.