Romanillos & Cook Image Rights Limited (R & C) has applied to the Guernsey Registry to register not only its image rights but also its company logo as a Guernsey trademark.

Jose Luis Romanillos, Managing Director of R & C, said there was no conflict registering an image right along with that of a trademark as they both complemented each other and offered different layers of protection. He said the key differences between the two types of Intellectual Property (IP) protection came down to jurisdiction and flexibility.

"Firstly, trademarks need to provide protection in jurisdictions where company activity is envisaged or could be infringed - and therefore protection is needed. Hence, having sought Guernsey protection for the trademark, R & C will subsequently be applying to register its trademark in the UK and then making an international application. Image rights have just the one centre for registration - Guernsey," said Mr Romanillos.

"Secondly, once a trademark is registered, any changes or additions to the mark have to be registered as a new and separate trademark, whereas an image rights registration has the flexibility to bolt on a whole range of additional images and variants that relate to the 'personality', such as a signature, voice, gesture, logo and an unlimited number of images."

Mr Romanillos has been the agent for a number of high profile image rights applications to the Guernsey Registry, including Manchester City Manager Manuel Pellegrini, Arsenal and England female footballer Jordan Nobbs, boxer Bradley Saunders and models Alana and Natasha Horn.

Mr Romanillos added: "We have made our registrations to ensure protection of our logo design and name - but we have also decided to register in order to lead by example. We are a Guernsey-based business looking to advance not only our IP business but more widely that of the Guernsey financial services industry. We all need to be supporting the Island by voting with our feet, and our wallet."

For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.guernseyfinance.com.

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