Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co and Gowlings have won a joint appointment from Weetabix ahead of their early 2016 combination.

A team from the two firms has been appointed to advise the breakfast cereal company on its global intellectual property (IP) needs.

The team is led by Wragges' IP partner Kate Swaine and Gowlings IP partner Shelagh Carnegie.

They will handle the global protection, management and enforcement of the Weetabix brand portfolio.

Weetabix general counsel Chris Thomas said: "Weetabix has business interests across the globe and so we need to work with a team which offers a single global solution; servicing our interests across all continents. WLG and Gowlings will do just that."

UK firm Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co and Canadian firm Gowlings announced in July 2015 that they would combine in early 2016.

The firms will join together under a UK company but they will keep separate profit pools and partnerships. They will combine under the name Gowlings WLG.

Originally the firm's announced that the combination would take place in January 2016, but it has now been pushed back to "early 2016″.

The two firms cited the combined strength of their intellectual property practices as a key driver for the tie up.