Neale Christy | Senior Associate | Meet The Team

Practice Areas

Disputes and Litigation

Intellectual Property

Neale is a Senior Associate in LegalVision’s Intellectual Property team. Since 2015, he has advised startups and scaleups through to established businesses, in-house legal teams and multinational corporate clients on protecting and enforcing their brands. He provides commercially focused advice on Trade Marks, Copyright and cross-border disputes.

His brand protection advice covers the UK, EU and international markets, with experience spanning the entertainment, consumer technology, retail and telecoms sectors. He helps businesses identify risks before launch, build trade mark portfolios that support expansion and respond effectively when their rights are challenged.

He conducts clearance searches, develops filing strategies and manages trade mark applications and renewals. He also handles oppositions, appeals, cancellations, invalidity proceedings, infringement and passing-off disputes, and domain name complaints. Where a negotiated outcome better serves a client’s objectives, he drafts cease and desist correspondence and negotiates settlements and co-existence agreements.

Neale’s broader practice covers Copyright, registered designs and the commercial use of intellectual property, including licensing and assignments. He has also published analysis on brand protection in social media marketing and on Intellectual Property issues arising from NFTs and blockchain technology.

Qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales and an attorney in South Africa, he brings experience from specialist and international private practice to complex, multi-jurisdictional matters. He gives clients clear, practical advice that accounts for both the strength of their legal position and the commercial decisions they need to make.

Qualifications: Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws (LLM), University of Stellenbosch.

Professional Memberships: Law Society of England and Wales, South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law, Law Society of the Western Cape (South Africa).

Neale's
Recent Matters

Acted alongside a colleague for a startup drinks brand defending a passing-off claim concerning the appearance of its newly launched vodka range, where the High Court refused an interim injunction and the claim was dismissed following settlement.
Advised a major multinational company on trade mark prosecution and enforcement across the UK and EU, supporting the protection of its brands in both markets.
Argued a successful non-use revocation before the UK Intellectual Property Office, clearing an obstacle to a client’s planned brand launch.
Appealed trade mark opposition decisions before the EU Intellectual Property Office’s Board of Appeal, successfully preventing conflicting marks from proceeding to registration.
Persuaded the UK Intellectual Property Office that a multi-million-pound retail client’s use of its mark had made it distinctive, leading to withdrawal of an absolute-grounds objection and registration of the mark.

Neale's
Expertise

Intellectual Property

Conducting trade mark clearance searches, developing filing and portfolio strategies in the UK and internationally, and managing applications and renewals.

Advising on trade mark oppositions, appeals, cancellations and invalidity proceedings, and resolving infringement, passing-off and domain name disputes.

Drafting cease and desist correspondence and negotiating settlements and co-existence agreements.

Advising on Copyright, registered designs and the commercial use of intellectual property, including licensing and assignments.