He safeguards some of the most beloved Scottish brands such as Harris Tweed and Hunter Boots - and saves the economy millions of pounds in the process.

As managing partner at Marks & Clerk, the UK’s largest intellectual property law firm, the unassuming Campbell Newell also protects high profile clients Pringle of Scotland, Loch Fyne Oysters, Dean’s shortbread and Simon Howie, The Scottish Butcher.

Yet his ongoing successes mean his important work goes largely unnoticed by the Scottish public.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Herald, Newell has revealed how the country’s best loved products are at risk both from large firms hoping to imitate the success of established brands and criminal counterfeiters attempting to cash in.

Newell said: “Scottish brands have huge value to the owners of the brands and to the economy here in Scotland. If you think of some of the whiskey brands, food brands and clothing brands – they’re probably worth many hundreds of millions.”

Newell must monitor markets around the world from his office in Edinburgh and act quickly if trademarks are infringed.

“The clients I act for are multinationals on one hand and also well-known Scottish names who export worldwide,” he said.

“Pringle of Scotland, kiltmakers Kinloch Anderson, Hunter wellington boots, Harris Tweed. These are brands which you can buy all over the world and we look to protect all over the world.

“Counterfeit products are a massive problem. People behind them are invariably involved in organised crime. So, that bargain you think you’ve got is probably not the bargain you think it is."

He adds: "We register layers of trademarks. It can be word trademarks, logos, the shapes of products. The Antiquary Whiskey, for example, comes in a very unusual bottle shape and we’ve registered that shape. Trademarks can take lots of different forms.”

Newell recently protected Pringle of Scotland from a small company which tried to register a similar name – and from a global fashion brand which created a similar logo.

He said: “Pringle of Scotland is an iconic Scottish brand. Clearly, Pringle of Scotland don’t want people coming along and calling another product Pringle, or anything close to it.

“Somebody once tried to register Dringle. They were thinking of going into clothing. It was trademark application somebody had filed. We had to take some action against that one.

“So we don’t just register trademarks, we take action against people who are trying to register the same or confusingly similar trademarks.

“We all know the Pringle lion. Tommy Hilfiger once filed a trademark application in Europe which was for a lion which looked almost identical to the Pringle lion, but the lion was holding a sword.

“We challenged that trademark application and the trademark office refused the application because their lion was deemed to be confusingly similar to the Pringle lion.

“A lot of the stuff we do is either through formal opposition or appeal procedures at the local trademark offices, wherever it may be. The last place we want to be is in court, because that’s hugely expensive.”

The Harris Tweed trademark was officially recognised as a coat of arms this month, providing further security against counterfeiting thanks to the quiet work of Newell.

He said: “For the Harris Tweed Authority, the industry is of huge economic and commercial importance to the Western Isles and we clearly can’t have people going around saying products are made with Harris Tweed when in fact they are not. If anyone could pass off a product as Harris Tweed it could potentially be very damaging.”

But it’s not just big brand names that come to Newell for advice on protecting their products. It could be a sole trader with a small business in the Scottish Highlands.

Newell said: “There has been quite a take-up in craft beer and boutique gin and vodka. We have a client who’s a farmer who’s now making potato vodka and doing it well.

“He had the foresight to get his trademark registered here but when he started to export he had to do more. This is what Scottish brands need to be aware of. If you are starting to export, you need to go through the appropriate checks in the export market because trademarks are territorial.

“It’s quite possible somebody could have a trademark registered in the UK but somebody else may have it registered in China or the USA.”

Many of Newell’s clients have a European Union trademark which protects their products in every member state. But with the prospect of the UK voting to leave in June the attorney has been forced to issue a warning to some Scottish companies.

He explained: “The community trademark - which will be renamed as the European Union trademark next month – is across all EU member states. I do say to clients just be careful if they simply rely only on a European Union trademark. If you are a Scotland-based company, I would say register your trademark in the UK and think about EU protection separately.

“It’s currently business as usual but we do not know what will happen. I would think what would happen in the event of any exit is there will be some sort of transitional provisions that will apply to any trademark registrations. Similarly, if Scotland were to come out of the rest of the UK there will be some sort of transitional provision, but that’s purely speculation.”