Simons Muirhead Burton

Intellectual property

Retail, Fashion & Franchising

Maninder Gill is the head of the firm’s Intellectual Property and Retail, Fashion & Franchising groups and his focus is on commercial, retail, media and intellectual property issues including franchising, branding and reputation management. He previously sat on the Board of Northern & Shell plc/Express Newspapers, the international publishing and broadcasting group and has extensive experience in developing strategies to deal with the media. He then joined the Board of international luxury fashion department store group Harvey Nichols, before joining the firm in 2010. He has been involved in numerous high profile cases including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas and OK! v Hello! Magazine and Associated Newspapers v Express Newspapers. Maninder represents many well-known brands in international franchising and licensing, developing international trade mark strategies, enforcing their IP rights and in protecting their reputations and brands. He has also advised clients and achieved successful outcomes in numerous disputes in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court and on domain name disputes. With his unusual mix of legal, human resources and business experience he is able to effectively advise on a broad range of issues and acts for many clients as their trusted advisor.

Called to Gray’s Inn 1992. Qualified 1995; assistant Carter-Ruck; group secretary and legal director Northern & Shell plc, corporate affairs and human resources director Harvey Nichols; partner Simons Muirhead & Burton 2010. Visiting lecturer European Business School 2011.

Malay.

Global Retailers Forum, Yellow Earththeatre Company and The Restorative Justice Council.

Raffles Institution, Singapore; Bristol University; University College London.

Scuba diving, Trustee of Yellow Earth, the East Asian Theatre Company and The Restorative Justice Council, the national voice for the field of restorative practice.