Case Study: Tangle Teezer

Article written by Emma Nappin, Work Experience Student

Background

"Tangle Teezer was founded by Shaun Pulfrey. He is an entrepreneur from the UK, whose daily routine sparked an idea. Shaun worked as a hair colourist and found his clients with long hair suffered with easily tangled hair. This then led to his idea of the Tangle Teezer. 

Protecting his IP

Shaun found a solution to his problem, the Tangle Teezer which is designed to detangle hair easily. He has patented the brush in over 30 countries. The brush designs are protected by design rights and Tangle Teezer is a protected trade mark. He then took his product to the TV show called “Dragons Den” which helps entrepreneurs with an idea to bring it to life. However, this didn’t go to plan for Shaun, but the experience gave him confidence in his product. As Shaun protected his ideas as his first step, it put him on the road to success. However, he was still unsure how to begin, so he did a lot of research himself and he sought professional advice from a Patent Attorney. 

Enforcing his IP

Although Shaun has put in lots of work protecting the Tangle Teezer, he still feels strongly about IP infringement. The Tangle Teezer means everything to Shaun and therefore he is very protective over it. He says it’s frustrating to see replicas of his product. His advice would be to register as much of your intellectual property as possible, as soon as possible. He says protection should be a main priority and he’s glad he spent what little he had on as much IP coverage as possible.

Acknowledgement to the UKIPO for this case study. Further details can be found on their website here."

For further advice on intellectual property rights contact professional Patent Attorneys at ip21.

Emma Nappin

Work Experience Student

July 2025