World Trademark Review is a London-based news and intelligence service for trademark professionals, covering the commercial and international practice of trademark law. Published by the specialist legal publisher Law Business Research, it combines a website, a daily email newsletter and a bi-monthly print magazine with two of the industry's most influential benchmarking products: the WTR Industry Awards and the annual WTR 1000 guide to the world's leading trademark professionals. Its website is worldtrademarkreview.com, and it is widely regarded as the trademark profession's publication of record.
Overview
World Trademark Review, known throughout the industry as WTR, is described as the world's only independent daily news and information service dedicated exclusively to reporting on trademark issues for in-house and private practitioners internationally. Its coverage spans trademark prosecution and enforcement, portfolio management and brand strategy, anti-counterfeiting, domain names and online brand protection, licensing, and the policy and legislative developments that shape trademark practice across the world's key jurisdictions. Its readership is the global trademark community: in-house counsel at brand-owning companies, private-practice trademark attorneys, and the service providers, registries and policymakers who work alongside them.
History and ownership
World Trademark Review was originally one of the publications produced by The IP Media Group, which was formed in 2008. The group also published Intellectual Asset Management magazine, organised the IP Business Congress and ran the IP Hall of Fame, positioning WTR from the outset within a stable of premium intellectual property titles. The website and magazine are published by Law Business Research, the specialist legal publisher based in London, and carry the ISSN 1751-0627. In March 2025 Law Business Research merged with ALM, the American publisher of The American Lawyer and Law.com, in a deal the companies presented as creating the premier global information and intelligence company serving the legal industry.
The daily news service
At the core of WTR's offering is WTR Daily, an email news and legal analysis service written by a panel of leading experts who report on trademark-related developments in key jurisdictions around the globe. Subscribers receive news stories, feature articles and legal updates every working day, giving practitioners a single briefing on the decisions, filings, disputes and regulatory changes that affect their work. The daily service is complemented by the website, which archives the full body of reporting and provides a searchable resource for the profession.
The print magazine
Alongside its digital output, World Trademark Review publishes a bi-monthly, practitioner-led print magazine. Issued once every other month to subscribers, the magazine focuses on the issues that matter most to trademark professionals worldwide, carrying longer-form features, interviews with leading in-house and private-practice figures, and analysis of the strategic questions facing brand owners. The combination of daily news and a slower, more reflective print cycle is designed to serve both the immediate information needs of busy practitioners and their appetite for deeper insight.
What WTR covers
The title's editorial scope follows the full lifecycle of a trademark. It reports on clearance and prosecution practice, opposition and cancellation proceedings, infringement litigation and enforcement campaigns, customs and border measures against counterfeits, and the management of large international portfolios. It covers the commercial side of brands as well: licensing deals, brand valuation, the trademark implications of mergers and acquisitions, and the strategies companies use to protect their identities online. It also tracks the institutions of the trademark system, from the EU Intellectual Property Office and the US Patent and Trademark Office to WIPO and national registries, and reports on legislative reform and treaty developments.
The WTR Industry Awards
World Trademark Review runs the WTR Industry Awards programme, which recognises the best in-house trademark teams and individual practitioners. The awards are distinctive in the legal media world for honouring the client side of the profession rather than law firms: past winners have included the trademark teams of Google, The Coca-Cola Company, Microsoft, Diageo, Gucci and Intel. To arrive at the shortlists, WTR conducts in-depth research of in-house counsel worldwide, surveying the global trademark community, and hundreds of nominations make the awards a genuine peer-driven accolade. The ceremony is timed to coincide with the International Trademark Association's annual meeting, the largest gathering of the trademark profession, and is attended by hundreds of senior in-house counsel from nominated companies alongside representatives of prominent law firms. The awards' international reach is illustrated by winners such as the Scotch Whisky Association's legal team, which was named Not For Profit Organisation Team of the Year at the Boston ceremony in recognition of its work enhancing the legal protection of Scotch whisky around the world. The award was timed to coincide with the INTA annual meeting, and the ceremony drew more than 300 senior in-house counsel. The association's legal deputy director Lindesay Low was separately named as one of the world's leading corporate trademark professionals, underlining how the awards spotlight both teams and individuals across sectors and regions.
The WTR 1000 rankings
The title's other flagship product is the WTR 1000: The World's Leading Trademark Professionals, an annual directory and ranking guide now in its sixteenth edition as of 2026. Based on extensive research in more than 80 key markets worldwide, drawing on independent market research, peer feedback and client input, the guide identifies the leading trademark firms and practitioners in each jurisdiction, awarding gold, silver and bronze band rankings. Firms publicise their WTR 1000 rankings prominently: recent editions have seen US firms celebrate record numbers of ranked attorneys and gold-tier national recognition, illustrating how central the guide has become to law firm marketing and to clients' selection of counsel. For individual practitioners, a WTR 1000 listing is one of the most coveted endorsements in trademark practice.
Readership and community
WTR's audience is genuinely global, reflecting the international nature of trademark practice itself. In-house teams at multinational brand owners use the daily service to track developments affecting their portfolios, while private-practice attorneys rely on it for competitive intelligence and for the rankings that shape their firms' reputations. The title's events and awards give it a convening role: the Industry Awards ceremony brings together the senior in-house counsel who are otherwise hard for publishers to reach, and the brand's association with the INTA annual meeting places it at the heart of the profession's calendar.
Editorial approach
World Trademark Review's journalism is practitioner-led. Its daily updates are written by a panel of trademark experts rather than generalist reporters, which gives the coverage a technical authority that readers trust, and its features draw heavily on interviews with the in-house counsel and attorneys doing the work. The title balances news reporting with practical guidance, helping readers understand not just what has happened in a jurisdiction but what it means for their filing strategies, enforcement budgets and risk assessments. Its tone is that of an insider publication: concise, commercially aware and focused on actionable intelligence.
The combined ALM-LBR era
The 2025 merger of Law Business Research with ALM brought World Trademark Review into a larger legal information group alongside Law.com, The American Lawyer and a suite of data and benchmarking products. For WTR, the combination offers the prospect of greater investment in its digital platforms and of cross-selling its rankings and awards to a wider audience of legal professionals. The trademark title's identity, however, remains distinct: two decades after its launch within The IP Media Group, it continues to serve the same clearly defined community of brand professionals with the daily news, the bi-monthly magazine and the industry benchmarks that made its name.
