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Franchising

We provide specialist franchising advice to both brand owners and franchisees. When you engage Lewis Silkin, you gain access to a full service law firm with the experience and expertise to support you on all aspects of your franchise business. Our dedicated experts can provide strategic advice on your tax and business structures. We can structure, draft and negotiate your franchise agreements, as well as manage your trade mark portfolio and represent you in commercial disputes.

Your business strategy

Our dedicated franchise lawyers advise leading retailers and other brand owners on all aspects of franchising, licensing, merchandising and concession arrangements. We can help you to decide which model is best for you, guiding you through the pros and cons of different models and strategies and helping you get to navigate the legal and regulatory issues.

Structuring and tax

Whether you are a start-up or an established franchise operator, we can provide a full corporate advisory service to guide you through the complexities of corporate law and governance issues. Our tax specialists are able to advise on tax and VAT planning, property transactions, pensions taxation, partnership structures, staff incentives, investment and funding issues, restructurings, as well as international tax considerations.

Commercial agreements

The franchise agreement is the most important document for your business, setting out the scope of the relationship between the parties and establishing your respective rights and obligations. For franchisors, we can will draft your franchise agreement, ensuring essential protection for your brand. For franchisees, we will review the agreement, advise you on the risks and help you to negotiate the key terms.

It’s likely that you’ll also need a range of other documents, such as terms of sale, web terms and other commercial agreements. Whatever your needs, our experienced franchise lawyers are here to help, drafting bespoke terms and agreements for your business or helping to negotiate them on your behalf. We are also experts in all things tech and digital, and can advise on software development agreements and on your e-commerce platform.

Brand management

Our leading team of trade mark attorneys, IP lawyers and specialist support staff can manage your trade mark portfolio for you and help to protect your brand. We will help you to obtain registrations in both the UK and the EU and provide a specialist watch service that alerts you to potential infringements of your IP.

Data privacy

Our specialist data protection team can advise on all aspects of data privacy for your business, drafting privacy notices for your website, negotiating data processing agreements with your suppliers, advising on direct marketing compliance and helping you navigate the complexities of the regulatory landscape.

Dispute resolution

Whether you’re dealing with a potential trade mark infringement or a dispute over a post-termination restriction, our dispute resolution team can help you to achieve the best outcome for your business. Specialising in both technical intellectual property disputes as well as more general commercial matters, our team includes experienced litigators as well as experts in alternative dispute resolution, mediation and arbitration.

International reach

Lewis Silkin is an international firm. As well as having an established EU presence with our office in Dublin, and Belfast, we have offices in Hong Kong and a strong network of international law firms ready to advise on the international aspects of your franchise business.

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