Intellectual Property Services

Probe International provides consultancy services for the protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights.

Trade Mark Validation, Verification and Infringement

It is often essential to establish facts surrounding the use of a Trade Mark. For example, a Trade Mark may be infringed or otherwise used in an unauthorised manner by a third party. In Probe International’s Trade Mark Use reports we seek to provide the client with an accurate account of what products are in the market place and to establish whether there could be potential opposition to a new product or to a proposed business plan.

Market Research

Probe International is often instructed to conduct Market Surveys prior to the launch or introduction of a new brand to the marketplace, in order to ascertain whether existing marks are potentially problematic to a client’s intended business plan and could result in opposition thereto.

Unregistered rights may also be searched, in particular to the same field and scope of business operations as those of a client and its interests.

Such surveys, in which Probe International specialises, can and should identify any potential conflicts or problems.

Trade Secrets

Probe International conducts discreet and confidential investigations in these commercially sensitive areas at a client’s behest.

Patent & Design Rights

Probe International investigates the use and application of Patent and Design Rights. As with Trade Marks, Patent and Design Rights are often subject to infringement and unauthorised use. The client may require clarification on how long the process or design has been used, the origin of the application and how its use was adopted by the party concerned. Often a new product, due for release, is exhibited at a Trade Fair or it is marketed within the particular industry, thereby alerting the client to a potential infringement of their Rights. We at Probe International will profile the Subject Company to the types of information illustrated above, including Prior Art.

Test (Trap) Purchases

As well as undertaking the test purchase, we at Probe International monitor and capture all the details of the transaction in an evidentiary report, which is delivered at the end of the investigation, together with the purchased items.

Anonymously buying products on behalf of the client allows us to identify, locate and profile the offender, often piecing together the entire supply chain.

Test purchases may be required for a single one-off purchase to enable a client to uncover an entire network of counterfeiters. Using our experience and expert knowledge in supply chains and export operations, we can advise the client every step of the way.