Brand Protection Coordinator

Triple Wimbledon champion Fred Perry founded his brand in 1952. He was the son of a cotton spinner who played and fought his way through, always with style and despite the establishment. Today, Fred Perry is a global community of over 370 employees, all inspired by the Laurel Wreath and what it represents.

PURPOSE:

In this newly created position, the Brand Protection Coordinator will be responsible for the operation of the Brand Protection Programme globally, protecting Fred Perry’s intellectual property primarily in the online space through monitoring and reporting counterfeit or infringing listings, posts, accounts, and fraudulent websites, as well as coordinating offline actions against counterfeit manufacturers and retailers.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Act as the primary point of contact for Fred Perry employees, external partners, legal counsel, and local law enforcement in relation to potential infringements of Fred Perry’s intellectual property rights.
• Review a large volume of marketplace listings and social media posts on a daily basis (currently 80,000+ per week), documenting and ensuring the removal of counterfeit and infringing listings, including identifying appropriate subjects for further action.
• Monitor and ensure the removal of, and take steps to minimise, the damage caused by fraudulent or scam websites.
• Support law enforcement authorities globally in the identification of counterfeit products during seizures and raid actions, including filing criminal complaints where appropriate.
• Working with Fred Perry’s legal counsel, instruct and manage external legal counsel in civil cases involving infringements of Fred Perry’s IP rights, including arranging for test purchases and other investigations and evidence collection.
• Maintain our customs border notices, including authorizations of official suppliers and distributors.
• Identify newly published trade mark applications for opposition and work with external legal counsel to manage oppositions, including working with internal stakeholders to prepare evidence of use bundles in relation to Fred Perry and its sister brands, Lavenham and George Cox.
• Maintain registered IP portfolios (including domain name portfolios) for Fred Perry, Lavenham, and George Cox, including identifying gaps in protection, assessing the need for renewals, and working with external legal counsel for new filings, renewals, and other administrative actions.
• Maintain an internal case management system.
• Provide regular reports on Brand Protection activities for internal and external stakeholders.
• Support internal teams in relation to efforts to minimise reputational risks.
• Support internal teams in relation to conversations about and investigations into grey market activity.
• Attend industry events, build strong relationships with other Brand Protection representatives, and keep ahead of new developments in order to continuously improve the programme.
• Deal with programme-related invoices and payment queries.
• Provide ad hoc intellectual property research support to Fred Perry’s legal counsel, including trade mark searches in relation to proposed new collaborations and designs.

THE PERSON:

• A legal background or previous experience in a Brand Protection role are not essential but would be beneficial.
• A passion for protecting the brand
• Capable multitasker
High attention to detail

HOURS:

We actively encourage our teams to have a good work/life balance and so we are pleased to offer flexible working shifts at Fred Perry HQ. Our core shift hours are from 10am – 4.30pm and so employees can choose to start and finish early, or start and finish late. (i.e. work 8:00am-4:30pm, or 10:00am-6:30pm etc). We also have 30-minute early finish on Fridays.

As we continue to work in a more flexible way, the Head Office acts a brand hub, where we can all connect and collaborate with one another. This role is a mix of office based (London) and remote working. We will expect the employee to come into the office regularly for face-to-face meetings and to work alongside their team on collaborative projects.

BENEFITS:

We are proud to offer a wide range of benefits to all our staff, and continue to reassess what our community needs from us to thrive. We don’t want to be a good company to work for, we want to be a great one. Here are some things we currently offer:

• Annual performance-related bonus
• Competitive salary, reviewed every year
• Generous staff discount and regular sample sales
• Generous pension scheme with 8.5% company contribution
• Option to buy an extra 5 days holiday annually
• Enhanced maternity and paternity packages
• Life insurance
• Private healthcare
• Cycle to work scheme
• Early finish Fridays
• Season ticket loan
• 25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays
• Annual Birthday vouchers
• Regular opportunities to attend gigs / events

We actively welcome applications from people of all different backgrounds. Your CV will be submitted to hiring managers with all personal details hidden to ensure anonymity.