TMGuard Research Report

IP in the Den

We analysed 419 brands from 171 episodes of BBC Dragons' Den (2014-2026) to answer one question: does intellectual property actually matter when seeking investment?

The answer is in the data.

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419

brands analysed

from 171 episodes

of invested brands had registered IP before pitching

of brands didn't own their .co.uk domain

brands involved in IPO opposition proceedings

overall investment rate

of analysed brands still active on Companies House

IP & Investment Correlation

Does IP influence the Dragons?

We cross-referenced every brand's IP status before their pitch with the investment outcome. Here's what the data shows.

Got Investment

had registered IP before pitching

-% still active on Companies House

No Deal

had registered IP before pitching

-% still active on Companies House

Dragon Portfolio Analysis

Which Dragon backs IP the most?

We tracked every Dragon's investment portfolio and measured how often they backed brands with existing intellectual property.

Post-Show Outcomes

What happened after the cameras stopped rolling?

We cross-referenced every brand against Companies House, the UK trade mark register, and IPO opposition records.

Invested brands still active

of brands that received investment are still active on Companies House today

Dissolved

of analysed brands have since been dissolved on Companies House

Filed new trade marks

brands filed additional trade mark applications after appearing on the show

Have trade mark conflicts

of brands have existing marks in the register that could pose a conflict

Methodology

How we built this analysis

📚

Data Sources

•IPO Dragons' Den blog (Open Government Licence v3.0)
•UK, EU and US trade mark registers (every mark)
•Companies House (5M+ companies)
•TMGuard opposition decisions database (UK and EU decisions, held separately)

🤖

Analysis

•AI-enriched extraction using Anthropic Claude with human review
•Cross-referenced against TMGuard's proprietary matching engine
•Trade mark conflict scoring across phonetic, visual, and class similarity
•Domain availability and Companies House status verification

📊

Coverage

•171 episodes (2014-2026)
•419 brands extracted and analysed
•- brands fully enriched with TM, CH, and domain data
•Last updated: -

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Dragons' Den is a trade mark of Sony Pictures Television / BBC. TMGuard is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to BBC, Sony Pictures Television, or Dragons' Den. Data derived from the IPO's Dragons' Den blog under Open Government Licence v3.0.