April 2026 has brought the first wave of reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025, with a number of developments employers across the creative industries and beyond should keep in mind now.
Read the key developments to be aware of here: www.leeandthompson.com/news/key-apr...
Last week, Wireless Festival was cancelled after headliner Kanye West (also known as Ye) was denied permission to travel to the UK.
In our latest article, we unpack what an ETA is and the key grounds on which an ETA application may be refused: www.leeandthompson.com/news/long-re...
Videogames associate, Francisco Rocha, attended London Games Festival's opening night at Coutts last night. It was great hearing speeches from Howard Dawber OBE and Ian Murray and meeting up with peers and industry leaders.
@londongamesfest.bsky.social
We are pleased to announce that L&T has chosen Ronald McDonald House Charities as the firm’s new Charity of the Year.
Until 31 March 2027, we will plan regular team fundraising activities, while gaining a deeper understanding of the work that the charity does.
www.leeandthompson.com/news/lee-tho...
We are delighted to have more than doubled our £10k fundraising target for our Charity of the Year 2025/26, Children with Cancer UK, raising a total of £20,035.57 over the past year.
Read more here: www.leeandthompson.com/news/lt-doub...
In an article written by Sophie Anim, we set out some key considerations for our creative clients when contemplating portraying real-life figures in tv/film projects.
Read here: www.leeandthompson.com/news/no-love...
There has been some furore over the new FX series "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette" ("Love Story"). Daryl Hannah has publicly criticised the way in which she is portrayed in the series.
We are proud that 6 L&T clients have been nominated at the 2026 Ivor Novello Awards.
Congratulations to Olivia Dean, Myles Smith, Chrystal, Divorce, Blue May and Daniel Blumberg on their nominations.
Read more here: www.leeandthompson.com/news/6-lt-cl...
Alice Martins and Helene Whelbourn discuss High Court decision which provides guidance on the date for assessing bad faith claims against UK comparable trade marks derived from pending EU applications, in an article written for and published by LexisNexis.
www.leeandthompson.com/news/case-an...
We are delighted to announce the promotion of Marek George, Anushka Sinha, James Rushton and Frania Cooper to the Partnership.
Martin Tynan has also been promoted to Legal Director; and Neha Solanki and Harrison Clark to Senior Associates.
www.leeandthompson.com/news/lee-tho...
Members of our Film team were invited to London Film School earlier this month to present to students on the Legals and Business Affairs module of LFS’ MA in Film Production course.
Read more about the module here: www.leeandthompson.com/news/lt-film...
We are thrilled that three of our clients were recognised at the Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards in Manchester last week, collectively taking home 6 awards.
Huge congratulations to Olivia Dean, DC3 and Niko Omilana.
Read more here: www.leeandthompson.com/news/6-mobo-...
This May, London becomes the heart of intellectual property when leaders from 140 jurisdictions gather for INTA (International Trade Mark Association)‘s Annual Meeting.
Lee & Thompson presents our carefully curated guide to London: www.leeandthompson.com/news/inta-20...
We’re delighted that 5 productions we advised on have been shortlisted at the BAFTA Television Awards 2026, collectively receiving 15 nominations.
Congratulations to the teams behind Adolescence, I Fought the Law, This City is Ours, Trespasses and Big Boys.
www.leeandthompson.com/news/15-baft...
The talk focused on the importance of getting the legal and commercial framework right from the outset to help avoid common pitfalls and ensure projects can be developed, financed and brought to the screen successfully.
The session brought together emerging producers and filmmakers for a practical discussion on the legal building blocks of a successful film project, from copyright ownership and chain of title to key production agreements, sales strategy and financing structures.
Alastair Mavor, Partner in our Film & TV group, delivered a talk at the BFI Flare festival at BFI Southbank last Thursday afternoon on “Before You Call ‘Action’: The Legal Checklist for Filmmakers.”
Congratulations to L&T client VCCP and its content creation studio Girl&Bear on multiple wins at the Campaign UK Agency of the Year Awards 2026.
Earlier this week we quizzed four established film producers about the state of independent UK film at our latest 'NextGen' Producers Collective event moderated by Film & TV partner Luke Carey - read about the evening here: www.leeandthompson.com/news/2026pro...
Nick Swimer continues thought leadership in ad-tech with his contribution, together with other leading industry figures, to the 'Programmatic Pioneers' report. Nick will discuss some of themes next week at marketing procurement IQ event, #ProgrammaticPioneersSummit - see programmatic.wbresearch.com
10 years on: L&T Partner Nick Swimer will be talking about media transparency in the wave of the 2016 Association of National Advertisers' study at the Marketing Procurement iQ Conference (Europe) next week.
Find out more about the conference here: www.marpro-iq.com
Huge congratulations to the team behind Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on winning across 3 categories at the 98th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles last night, Sunday 15 March.
Read more here: www.leeandthompson.com/news/triple-...
Wishing the best of luck to all Academy Awards nominees ahead of Sunday's Oscar ceremony.
If you want to discuss these changes or need any assistance with new trade mark filings, renewals, or other transactions please get in touch!
As a reminder, trade marks can be renewed up to 6 months before their due date, so if you want to save on costs, this can be an option for any trade mark which needs to be renewed before or on 30 September 2026.
What this means for you:
- If you are planning new trade mark or design filings, now is the time to instruct us, before the new increased fees takes effect.
- The same fee increases will apply to renewals, recordals and other chargeable Registry actions, so early action is recommended
The UKIPO is increasing its trade mark fees for the first time since 1998, in response to rising inflation. From 1 April 2026, the fee to file a trade mark in one class will increase from £170 to £205.
L&T Partner Alastair Mavor will be giving a talk for producers & filmmakers, “Before You Call ‘Action’: The Legal Checklist for Filmmakers”, on Thursday 19th March, as part of the programme at the 40th BFI FLARE: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival.
whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare/Online...
We were thrilled to welcome 22 students on the National Film & Television School’s Production Management course to our offices for a production legals talk, delivered by Film & TV associates Cristina Comsa and Liv Graham.
@nftsfilmtv.bsky.social
Read more: www.leeandthompson.com/news/lt-deli...
L&T Partner Mark Stafford is heading to SXSW Austin next week.
Get in touch if you would like to connect.
@sxsw.com