Mark Corran

Formerly an associate with a well-known IP/IT boutique — in addition to his role at the IoD — Mark is a consultant with a commercial firm headquartered in Westminster where he works with clients in diverse industries, such as fashion, food and drink, travel and virtual reality.

The kind of queries on which Mark regularly advises and can assist IoD members include:

• which of their trade mark(s) or designs they should register;

• whether they are free to use and register their trade mark or design in the UK or overseas;

• how to file an application for a trade mark or design in the UK or elsewhere;

• how to deal with an opposition to a trade mark application they’ve filed;

• how to defend cancellation proceedings filed against their registered trade mark or design;

• what options they have if someone is infringing their intellectual property rights or if they’ve been threatened with IP infringement proceedings;

• what issues they need to be aware when buying/selling intellectual property or when granting/taking a licence to intellectual property;

• explaining their obligations under data protection laws, including specific issues such as the lawful bases on which they may rely, how long they should retain personal data and how to deal with subject access requests and data breaches.