Introducing
Laurence
Elphick
I have worked for various blue
chip companies across the UK
but the last 13 years were at
Brighton based commercial
radio station, Juice 107.2, as a
Senior Account Manager and
latterly as Managing Director.
My primary role there was to
forge advertising and sponsorship
partnerships with many of Brighton’s
leading businesses, but I was also
lucky enough to be the Sports
Reporter on the radio, reporting live
from Brighton & Hove Albion games
across the country. With the license
allowing myself at the ground and
the DJ back at the station to only
do a certain number of 30 second
links per match it was pot luck as to
what was happening when I went
live on air. I remember in one season
commentating live as Íñigo Calderón
Zapatería scored an absolute
screamer against Bristol City at
the Amex together with Portsmouth
missing a last minute penalty at
Fratton Park – more recently luck was
on my side as the DJ came to me just
as David Lopez struck the winner away
at Millwall…..normally I would get
majorly over-excited reminding myself
that I should remain professional and
impartial at all times….certainly on this
occasion I wanted to get out alive and
102
remained very reserved in the Lions
Den. (The Lions is Millwall’s nickname
for those of you who don’t know).
Not only was I really pleased to
be able to meet the players and
managers every week, but I was also
lucky enough and had the pleasure
of interviewing some other big-name
celebrities along the way including Sir
Geoff Hurst and Jimmy Greaves, rugby
players Simon Shaw and Willy John
McBride as well as athletes, Steve
Cram, and Derek Redmond.
Back in March, I decided that I needed
a new challenge before I turned 50 and
when an opportunity with Mayo Wynne
Baxter came along, I just couldn’t
refuse. I had worked closely with the
firm over many years and already knew
a few of the partners. I also knew that
they were looking to grow as a business
and were very forward thinking about
their plans for the future. In addition
they have won awards for looking after
their staff so I knew this was the type of
company that I wanted to work for.
Many of my radio clients I had worked
with spoke very highly of Mayo Wynne
Baxter and knowing that my wife and
sons are regular viewers of the TV
programme ‘Suits’ I decided this was
also a great opportunity, especially as
they have that sporting connection with
Brighton & Hove Albion and Sussex
County Cricket Club which ticked my
‘love of sport’ box!
The
Purple
War
Cadbury v Nestle
Since joining the firm as their Head
of Business Development, I have met
a lot of very helpful people and I am
excited about what the future holds.
I have been tasked with developing
and facilitating new projects across
the offices that are designed to
increase the levels of new business
both privately and commercially. As a
consequence, I am currently working
on six different projects already, so
even less time with my family then! My
immediate mission though is to visit
and remember the names of each of
the 200 or so staff around each of the
eight different offices. We cover so
many aspects of the law, from property
to probate, from licensing to litigation
and I didn’t realise that there was so
much happening behind the scenes at
Mayo Wynne Baxter.
Out of work I like to watch all sports (my
bones can’t handle the playing aspect
anymore), from Tiddlywinks to TaeKwando. But my first love is football and
I would definitely watch more if my wife
would let me have Sky Sports!!
By Laurence Elphick
Cadbury, the British multinational
confectionery company, has lost a longstanding battle over the use of its iconic
colour purple as a trade mark.
Cadbury tried to register its particular
shade of purple, otherwise known as
Pantone 2685C, as a UK trademark.
A trade mark is a sign which can
distinguish your goods and services
from those of your competitors (you may
refer to your trade mark as your “brand”).
It can be for example words, logos or
a combination of both. The only way to
register your trade mark is to apply to
the government’s Intellectual Property
Office (IPO).
Cadbury applied for the trade mark in
class 30, which includes a broad range
of chocolate products, and in particular,
Cadbury’s applied for a trade mark to
cover products where the predominant
colour in the packaging was the iconic
shade of purple. This would have
prevented producers of other chocolates
and foodstuffs from using that colour in
their packaging.
not claim that the use of a ‘predominant’
amount of purple on the packaging was
distinctive enough.
Cadbury’s applied for a trade mark
in 2004 but objections from Nestle
prevented it from being registered. The
IPO found that the particular shade of
purple had been in W6R'