When I became a mother I made a promise to myself not to ‘let myself go’. To try and keep in touch with fashion, remain well groomed and not turn up to the school gates minus make-up.
Ha ha! How foolish and naïve I was thinking that it would be possible to achieve this with 3 pre-school children. Most of the time I’m just grateful that I’ve managed to leave the house without a Coco Pop stuck to my head!
Keeping up appearances
I’m still trying to maintain a certain, ahem, beauty regime, and am always looking for little gadgets and products to save time and make the process a little easier. So the ‘WellGel’ products pitched to the Dragons tonight caught my eye. The promise that the nail polish was easy to apply and quick drying appealed to me.
Mustafa Mehmet of WellGel London Ltd wanted £70,000 for a 35% stake in the business. Although the pitch was unsuccessful, it still managed to hold my interest.
If Mustafa had approached me for some IP advice on the product, the first thing I would ask him would be if he had protection on the name. Well Gel is quite a topical phrase at the moment so it may already protected as a trade mark.
Research your brand
It’s quite easy to find out if your business or product name is already registered as a trade mark. A quick search of the free trade mark register on the IPO website will show any trade mark registrations or applications. But it’s important to remember that this is just a guide and not a definitive search.
Before you start using your trade mark it's always advisable to carry out a search to make sure you're not infringing an existing brand.
Automatic right
Aside from trade marks, I would establish if there was a website connected to the company. If there is, who created it and who owns it?
A website is considered creative work and is protected by copyright. The creator of copyright, in most cases, automatically owns the IP. Therefore, if you employ someone to create your website, it is highly likely that they will own the IP. You should make sure that a contract is in place to establish who owns the IP before any agreements take place.
And what about the formula of the product? It may be possible to protect the gel formula or the process for creating the nail polish as a patent. Alternatively (and sometimes more suitably), you can protect a process or a secret formula with a trade secret. For more on trade secrets, check out one of our past blogs.
Although the Dragons didn’t invest, is this a time-saving product that I’ll be investing in? Well, I am always on the lookout for innovative products to make parenting easier, so a quick drying nail varnish might be worth considering!
If you're surprised at the amount of IP in this product, maybe it’s worth investigating your own business? Our free online tools, like the IP Health Check, can help you identify the IP your business owns and how to protect it. Go on, you may surprise yourself!
To keep in touch, sign up to email updates from this blog, or follow us on Twitter.
6 comments
Comment by Kirsty Edwards posted on
I hope any ongoing issues are resolved amicably. This platform may not be the best place to do so. For further information please see our guidelines: https://dragonsden.blog.gov.uk/ipo-moderation-guidelines/
Comment by Kathrin Williams posted on
I have ordered from the Wellgel website a couple of times now and although, yes delivery takes a little while, the product is well worth the wait. I've found Mustafa very helpful and he always responded quickly to emails and to the many questions I had. The product is amazing and beats many of others similar products on the market and saves me hundreds compared to Salon. I wish I had the £70k he wanted as investment from the Dragons as I certainly would have invested to get this great product to the market. I hope he continues to do well and that it will become more widely and easily available, perhaps also through QVC (have you tied them Mustafa?) as it definitely deserves it.
Comment by Helen Faulkner Lloyd posted on
I ordered some nail polish from this man back in early September and have not received any product.
I paid £45 and have received nothing.
This is fraud and I intend to take it further.
Do not purchase from this site.
Well Gel Nails
Comment by Helen Faulkner-Lloyd posted on
Don't purchase any.
I placed an order back on 4th September 2016 and still haven't received the order. The payment came out on 4th September 2016 and there was no mention of when to expect delivery.
I've been in touch numerous times with Mustafa and asides from spelling mistakes in the emails, he hasn't told me when I can expect my delivery.
Instead he says "you will be getting it this week for sure". I never did receive it that week.
Comment by Mustafa Mehmet posted on
Mustafa mehmet
Helen may not have realised that after the dragons den we had a huge influx of orders. We were not geared up for such a rush of orders. Several people's orders were late but we did get there in the end. Helen was threatening towards us and wasn't cooperative so we refunded her money back in the end.
Wellgellondon is now being distributed which means we can no longer sell products to the public. Unfortunately Helen contacted us during this transition and we were unable to service her needs hence the refund.
I do not take kind nor find it professional to bad mouth a company as Helen has. Which is why we do not want to deal with her.
Wellgellondon is a professional company and is trying to establish it's self as a professional in the industry.
Like any new bussiness there are teething problems and we are making extra efforts to better these.
We have have a positive following on facebook and hope to maintain this as the brand grows.
Comment by Reginald Thurgood posted on
Referencing Helen, you say that you don't want to deal with her anymore. So let's get this straight: Helen places an order, you take her money, you don't give her any product, and then you get upset when she tells about her experience. Hmmm, sounds like a great business model.