Taylors - The Commercial Law Firm
Commercial law firm Taylors Legal Services Ltd are
dynamic and highly experienced business lawyers with
offices in Manchester and Blackburn, Lancashire.
As legal specialists, we are committed to
providing the highest quality service
through a real understanding of our clients'
needs, business priorities and specific
requirements. We offer a common sense and
commercial approach with which we deliver
relevant, timely and commercially-astute,
value for
money solutions to the issues
faced by businesses in the real world
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Learn more...
Leading North West employment lawyer joins Taylors as partner
 Taylors Solicitors has appointed Sarah Williams to head its Employment Law team.
Sarah has previously worked at highly-regarded national law firms Thompsons and Weightmans and has established her name as one of the region’s leading employment lawyers. She is also one of relatively few GDPR specialists in the North West.
The new partner brings a high degree of business savvy. She has over 20 years’ experience both in practice and on the client-side in business and works closely with business owners and senior leaders on a range of matters including, employee relations, workforce changes and disputes resolution.
Sarah said: “Taylors’ sole focus is on commercial law which is what first attracted me. The firm also has a reputation for providing the highest quality service because it has a real understanding of its clients’ needs, business priorities and specific requirements.
“That’s because Taylors has built great long-lasting relationaships with its clients. These are often owner managers of businesses who have come to rely on personal and professional service. My Employment Law team will provide the same high calibre service.”
Elaine Hurn, Managing and Commercial Partner at Taylors said: “Sarah’s appointment is not simply a major coup for Taylors but is great news our clients. She is a senior appointment with extensive expertise with means she can assess our clients’ needs quickly.”
With offices in Manchester and Blackburn, Taylors is purely focused on commercial law, and is committed to providing the highest quality service.
Taylors given green light for Porsche deal
 Reclassifying motorway routes, navigating negotiations and drawing up development agreements is all in a day’s work for Taylors.
Working for prestigious motor dealership Parker & Parker, Taylors were on hand to provide expert advice in their specialist area of corporate law and were therefore integral in securing and developing a new location for Porsche Kendal.
Involving five parties, Taylors Senior Associate Peter Marks led the deal handling negotiations for the acquisition of the new site, and the development agreement to undertake enabling works.
One particular challenge included the reclassification of a section of the A601(M) as a non-motorway, which allowed access to the new site. Peter’s experience in ground engineering and construction helped considerably to appreciate the challenges of developing a green field site.
Elaine Hurn, Managing Partner at Taylors Solicitors said: “The team here at Taylors lead by Peter Marks have done an incredible job of ensuring the new acquisition ran smoothly, especially in the midst of a global pandemic.
“We are honoured to have been involved in this exciting phase of the Parker family’s partnership with Porsche.”
Ian Parker, managing director of Parker & Parker commented ‘We have invested a large amount to develop our new site and the legal advice and support we received from Taylors’ team was second to none.”
Parker & Parker have supplied customers with Porsche vehicles from their current site in Kendal over the last 60 years. Their brand new, much larger state of the art dealership centre will open in summer 2021, and will be re-named as ‘Porsche Centre South Lakes’.
If you’re searching for specialist advice in commercial law, then contact Elaine Hurn at Taylors on 01254 297906.
Major retailer EWM takes advantage of the “little guy” in textile copyright case
 A Blackburn clothing firm has triumphed in a copyright battle against Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) in what lawyers from taylors describe as a ‘David v Goliath’ victory.
Response Clothing in Blackburn supplied a ladies’ top made from a jacquard fabric with a ‘wave’ pattern to EWM between 2009 to 2012. But when the Blackburn firm tried to increase prices, the national retailer took a sample to another garment supplier and had it copied, the High Court was told.
EWM, who have 400 retail stores nationwide, had similar tops made by Visage using the distinctive wave pattern for three years before sourcing similar tops from Vietnamese company Cingo, and a Bangladeshi company, Bengal Knittex.
Response subsequently sued EWM for copyright infringement in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, led by Intellectual Property experts Taylors Legal Services.
The High Court Judge found that the wave fabric was ‘a work of artistic craftsmanship’ even though it was produced on a machine - which was infringed by EWM’s tops.
Judge Hacon also found that the importation and sale of the tops by EWM was a secondary infringement of copyright because EWM should have known that dealing in the copies of Response’s fabric would be in breach of Response’s rights.
He said: “In my view, the similarities between the Wave fabric and each of the Visage, Cingo and Bengal Knittex Fabrics, would have been apparent to a reasonable person and would have led that person to believe that dealing in the latter fabrics would be in breach of rights likely to be held by Response. EWM's sales of the Visage, Cingo and Bengal Knittex Fabrics were all secondary infringements.”
Tony Catterall, Head of the Intellectual Property Team at Taylors Legal Services Limited, acted for Response. He said: “We have been delighted to see this case to a successful conclusion for Response Clothing.
“This was an example of a major retailer taking advantage of the ‘little guy’ and believing it could copy a supplier’s design with impunity.
“EWM went to extraordinary lengths to fight this case, applying to the Court for two rounds of expert evidence and seeking leave to put in supplemental fact evidence. Those efforts were all in vain and this claim illustrates that no business seeking to protect its IP rights need fear a ‘deep pockets’ opponent when bringing a case before the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court.”
With offices in Manchester and Blackburn, Taylors is a law firm specialising in all aspects of commercial law. The dynamic and highly experienced lawyers at Taylors are committed to providing the highest quality service through a real understanding of our clients’ needs, business priorities and specific requirements.
For further information contact Tony Catterall, Head of the Intellectual Property Team at Taylors, on 01254 297900 or via email at tony.catterall@taylors.co.uk.
Taylors is the only North West based firm to have been appointed as a legal affiliate to the National organisation Anti Copying In Design (“ACID”).
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