New entrants and market shifts: WIPR unveils UK Trademark Rankings 2026

This year’s honourees include a firm that has elevated its position to the highest tier with a significant team acquisition—and one that appears in the rankings for the first time.

Industry disruptors, litigation heavyweights and high-volume filing practices have all been recognised in WIPR’s newly released UK Trademark Rankings 2026.

The rankings highlight the firms prospering at a time when the UK’s trademark regime has now fully entered the post-Brexit era, deepfakes are spurring celebrities into taking action to protect their likeness, and dupe culture is booming.

This year’s cohort names a wide variety of brands among its clients, from those deemed iconic after over a century of building a reputation, such as Aston Martin, to recent success stories such as popular athleisure company Gym King and TikTok owner ByteDance.

The WIPR Rankings team decided which firms and individuals were deserving of places in this year’s four tiers by considering submissions and client feedback, as well as conducting independent research.

Split into tables for non-contentious and contentious work, the rankings reflect the shifts in the market over the past year.

Having significantly expanded its UK trademark offering with a stellar team from A&O Shearman, White & Case is elevated to ‘Outstanding’ for 2026 alongside Bird & Bird, Mishcon de Reya, Fieldfisher and other leading firms.

A new entrant, Travers Smith was praised by a peer for its “legal and technical” expertise in handling a High Court trademark case, in addition to its established capabilities in licensing and commercial transactions.

Skykick fallout and UKIPO woes

One of the biggest questions following the landmark Sky v Skykick ruling in 2024 has been how the Supreme Court’s decision would play out in practice.

Trademark lawyers interviewed by the WIPR Rankings team had differing opinions on its impact, with one welcoming it as a “legally and commercially sophisticated” ruling that leaves third parties with overly broad specifications more vulnerable to a reasonable challenge.

Another noted a couple of cases where “we’re running Skykick type arguments” to oppose broad, bad-faith specifications—but others were more skeptical about its effectiveness in preventing such filings.

UK trademark teams are now dealing with post-Brexit realities in sharper focus following the expiry in January of the final transitional provisions governing the use of comparable UK trademark rights.

Practitioners reported that it was “all guns blazing” at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) with an increase in revocation and cancellations proceedings as brand owners attempt to clear conflicting registrations from the UK register.

This has led to frustration with “woeful” pendency times at the office, which hiked fees by an average of 25% in April and also rolled out the first major phase of its ‘One IPO’ digital transformation this year.

Attorneys also discussed the ongoing challenge of tackling artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes, with the suggestion of a “scatter-gun approach” to filing trademark and copyright registrations in the absence of a specific right that celebrities can rely on to protect them.

All-in-one brand solutions

Against this backdrop, competition between traditional trademark attorney agencies and full-service law firms has continued to intensify, as the distinction between the two becomes increasingly blurred.

Client demand for one-stop advice, cross-border portfolio management and cost efficiency has accelerated a move towards integrated trademark practices, with firms combining prosecution, licensing, enforcement and litigation.

Traditionally viewed as an attorney firm, D Young & Co has built up robust contentious capabilities; Haseltine Lake Kempner has also broken the mould and is now recognised for its full-service trademark offering.

Similarly, law firms have been expanding their filing and portfolio prosecution dockets; K&L Gates has transformed its UK model from a litigation-centric offering to a 360-degree brand practice, which now serves clients including Nike, Tiffany & Co, and Mölnlycke Health Care.

Other notable representations this year include Stephenson Harwood acting for Swatch Group in the damages phase of the company’s trademark litigation with Samsung, represented by White & Case; the case made headlines for the ‘rare’ size of the award sought by the Swiss watchmaker.

Brandsmiths and Powell Gilbert are on the opposing sides of a complex dispute over the Lambretta brand, while Lewis Silkin acted for D-Robe in its widely-discussed litigation with Dryrobe, which addressed the concept of ‘genericide’.

In the ‘Outstanding’ tier for non-contentious work, Wiggin manages the global trademark portfolio for the University of Oxford and Oxford University Press, the largest university press in the world.

‘Highly Recommended’ firm Morgan Lewis continues to attract large clients with its vast international reach; Netflix, OpenAI and Ferrari all use the team for UK trademark matters.

Morgan Lewis’s Nick Bolter, in charge of the European trademark and copyright practice, is recognised in the top tier for 2026; peers described him as a “first class trademark lawyer”.

Those alongside Bolter in the highest category for non-contentious work include Mishcon de Reya’s Sally Britton, who heads the firm’s Brands group and is highly regarded in the market.

On the contentious side, Bristows’ Jeremy Blum is among those in this year’s ‘Outstanding’ category; a highly regarded litigator, Blum leads large teams in high-stakes disputes. A referral client comments on the “great success” he has had in UK contentious matters.

Talent pool

Demand for specialist trademark expertise continues to grow, and UK firms have been investing in experienced practitioners capable of advising on domestic and cross-border brand protection.

Over the past year, notable moves have included former head of brand protection at Charles Russell Speechlys, Charlotte Duly—ranked as ‘Highly Recommended’ this year—departing to join D Young & Co.

White & Case significantly fortified its trademarks team with the addition of David Stone, Karla Hughes and Adrian Dykes from A&O Shearman, as well as technology and transactions expert Dan Reavill from Travers Smith.

Following the UK Trademark Rankings are WIPR’s UK Patents and Trade Secrets Rankings, with Global Trade Secrets and China on the schedule after that.

For more information, including how to be considered for inclusion, please contact WIPR Rankings editor Baron Armah-Kwantreng at barmah-kwantreng@newtonmedia.co.uk.

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