Lead Trade Mark Paralegal – IP Legal Powerhouse (Barcelona)

Company Overview:

Unilever is one of the world’s leading fast-moving consumer goods companies. Our products are sold in over 190 countries, and, on any given day, 3.4 billion consumers worldwide use them. We own some of the best known and best loved brands, including Axe, Cif, Comfort, Dermalogica, Dove, Hellmann’s, Horlicks, Lifebouy, Knorr, Paula’s Choice, Persil, TRESemmé and Vaseline.

In order to unlock our full potential and accelerate business performance, Unilever has set out a Growth Action Plan. It outlines the steps we are taking to deliver faster growth, drive productivity and simplicity, and dial up our performance culture.  Our 30 Power Brands are front and centre of our Growth Action Plan, as is unmissable brand superiority across the 6Ps, as well as science and technology.

Our focus in Legal is on high impact strategic business partnering, leveraging and strengthening our legal expertise whilst continuing to expand the powerhouses and focus on digital transformation.

Unilever's legal team has recently been awarded Most Innovative In-House Legal Team in Europe and In-House Legal Team.  We are at the forefront of innovation and digitalisation with GenAI tools, data and Powerhouses shaping the future of how we work. 

Job Purpose:

The role of Unilever’s Legal Function is to protect Unilever and help it to win by providing objective advice and creative legal solutions.  The Legal Function, a global operation consisting of approximately 500 lawyers and specialists, is structured with corporate expertise Leads and General Counsels who head up each of our five Business Groups.

Intellectual Property (IP) is a corporate expertise function under the leadership of Unilever’s Chief Intellectual Property Officer.  The Trade Mark Team has global responsibility for all trade mark work and provides expert legal advice, risk management support and creative legal solutions to the business, with a focus on trade mark and copyright law, including searching, clearance, filing, renewals, oppositions, infringement, look-a-like products, unfair competition and passing-off, licensing, assignments, mergers and acquisitions as well as domain name registrations, recoveries and acquisitions.

The Legal Powerhouse is a team established in 2023 and currently consists of around 80 legal associates and paralegals located across Bangalore, Barcelona and Mexico City.  The Powerhouse team is part of the Legal Function and provides defined, structured services to our lawyers and to the broader business.

We are now building an IP expertise hub as part of our Legal Powerhouse in Barcelona and are seeking to recruit a Lead Trade Mark Paralegal who will provide essential support to our Trade Mark Counsel on a variety of matters in service of our business partners.

Core Responsibilities:

You will be responsible for supporting with the following activities:

• Trade Mark Searches: Conduct trade mark screening searches using specialised technology, analyse search results to determine the availability of proposed trade marks and prepare initial advice for the Trade Mark Counsel.  Where required, instruct our network of external law firm(s) to undertake full clearance searches, monitor and collate responses, and prepare draft advice for business partners on the availability and registrability of proposed trade marks.
• Trade Mark Applications: Prepare trade mark application instructions to our network of external law firm(s) for the filling and prosecution of trade mark filling projects, as well as collating supporting documentation, preparing cost estimates where required and monitoring priority deadlines.
• Trade Mark Renewals: Support with our annual trade mark renewal cycle, including the gathering of input from our regional legal colleagues and business partners, the preparation of instructions to our network of external law firm(s), as well as collating supporting documentation and preparing cost estimates where required.
• Evidence Collation: Prepare evidence packages of Unilever’s use of our trade marks to support our annual trade mark renewal cycle and the preparations of Statements of Use, as well as for trade mark prosecution, opposition and cancellation matters.
• Trade Mark Watching: Conduct trade mark watching to identify infringing third party trade mark applications and prepare recommendations to the Trade Mark Counsel. Where required, instruct our network of external law firm(s) to provide legal advice and prepare summary advice for business partners on the availability and registrability of proposed trade marks.
• Trade Mark Disputes: Assist with trade mark disputes (such as TM oppositions and cancellation proceedings) including undertaking investigations and the initial drafting of pre-action cor