Eddie Powell

I have been a lawyer for 30 years and I have spent half of my career at Fladgate. I hope I am not as crusty as that sounds. I still get a buzz out of working with clients to help them achieve their business plans or sort out an issue that may be causing them to lose sleep. I have experience and expertise across a wide range of commercial legal issues, and I deliver my advice with a healthy dose of pragmatism and ‘gut feel’. And jokes of dubious taste.

Many people are surprised to learn that I started out as a disputes lawyer; I began to specialise in intellectual property issues, and from there gained experience in other areas that often go hand in hand with IP, such as commercial contracts and technology issues. Since I joined Fladgate, I have picked up considerable experience in hotel industry contracts. All of these areas are often intertwined in a business context, and I enjoy the fact that in many cases I can provide a practical way forward which ticks lots of specialist boxes.

I live out in the countryside, and my spare time is spent sorting out dogs, cats, hens and horses. If we do meet, and you own a dog, I will be happy to waste all the time we have chatting about my springer spaniel.

• Headspace is the world’s leading app/online meditation and mindfulness content. I manage their portfolio of trade marks outside the US, helping them to get protected in countries of interest, and resolving potential disputes with infringers in a quick and pragmatic way.
• Acting for Ocado Ventures on its $25m debt-and-equity investment into Infinite Acres (a venture that aims to develop, improve and sell turnkey indoor farming solutions), advising Ocado on the commercial and IP collaboration issues arising out of the JV. In these arrangements, the sharing and protection of IP contributed by each shareholder, and the ownership of the same, was a key issue for the parties.
• Represented the former United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra in its trade mark and passing off dispute with the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. The case, involving two touring ukulele bands in dispute over the name chosen by my client, hit the headlines in the UK for obvious reasons, but involved interesting legal issues relating to the how a descriptive name could become protected by trade mark law.
• Advised Penguin Random House’s in-house legal team in their GDPR compliance programme, providing advice on the technical detail of GDPR and how it impacted PRH’s digital strategy.
• Acting for the buyers of Morrison’s portfolio of 140 convenience stores advising the new owners on their multi year, multi-million pound supply agreement with Nisa, and the rebranding of the stores as “MyLocal”.
• Acting for hotel owners in franchise negotiations with brands such as Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Accor and Radisson, as well as management contract negotiations with Hilton, Interstate and BDL. Examples include the Westin London City, the Canopy by Hilton London City, AC by Marriott Manchester and IBIS Styles Nairobi (Kenya).
• Acted for Swiss automotive supplier Valmet in negotiating its component supply contracts with leading UK luxury car manufacturers.