Linklaters IP team has suffered another blow, with the defection of senior associates Jonathan Day and Jonathan Critchley to Manches.

Day and Critchley join Manches’ trademarks and brand protection team. They are part of the firm’s plan to create a standalone trademark prosecution practice. The team now has seven lawyers.

For Linklaters, the departures signal an upheaval within its IP team, which has now lost five associates in three weeks after Simmons & Simmons took a team in mid- September.

Manches technology, media and IP head Alexander Carter- Silk said: “Our trademark portfolios have grown and our clients said we needed to make the group bigger. We’re going over to a proper full-service trademark practice.”

Day will lead the trademark prosecution and enforcement team, supported by Critchley and Aaron Wood, who joined from Davenport Lyons three months ago.