IP Licensing

The Irish designer, Orla Kiely, has not been short of awards during her company’s twenty-year existence, including, crucially, plenty in the world of licensing for her and her licensees. The news last week, then, that her wholesale and retail business, Kiely Rowan, was to close via a creditors’ voluntary liquidation, ... Read More

It was with sadness that we heard yesterday about the death, at age 94, of Toys R Us founder Charles Lazarus, ironically a week after the company announced plans to liquidate. He stepped down as Chairman-CEO in 1994, but had retained the title of Chairman Emeritus. According to the New ... Read More

With reporting by Mark Seavy By the time Toys R Us sought bankruptcy court approval early Thursday morning “to begin the process of conducting an orderly wind-down of its U.S. business and liquidation of inventory in all 735 of the Company’s U.S. stores,” many in the licensing industry were well ... Read More

Last week we received the sad news of the death of Robert Sutherland, Chairman of Redan Publishing and a major player in the UK kid’s comics business for many decades. Robert was regarded by virtually everyone he met as one of the true gentlemen of licensing. His no-nonsense approach to ... Read More

As explored in Euromonitor International’s “Character Licensing Trends in Packaged Food, and Beauty & Personal Care in Western Europe” report, there are many categories in packaged food, and beauty and personal care in Western Europe which remain untapped by character licensing. Restrictions on unhealthy food packaging are a challenge, but ... Read More

This article originally appeared on LinkedIn. San Francisco’s annual Winter Fancy Food Show is a foodie’s dream! From tempting sweets, to power-packed proteins, to exciting new products like hot honeys and boozy snacks, there are enough gourmet indulgences to delight the taste buds for days. Beyond new flavors, variations and packaging, we saw the ... Read More

As investigated in Euromonitor International’s “Character Licensing Trends in Fashion and Homewares and Home Furnishings in Western Europe” report, which examines major character licensing trends in the largest markets, Western Europe is key for character licensing across FMCG. It is an affluent and developed region and while fashion’s appeal and ... Read More

The world of brand licensing is ever-changing, with new technologies quickly shifting the environment and shaping new, unique licensed products. But how about the operations side  in the licensing business? How could artificial intelligence, or AI, help brand licensing businesses to grow and improve? AI is clearly here to stay. ... Read More

The world of brand licensing is ever-changing, with new technologies quickly shifting the environment and shaping new, unique licensed products. But how about the operations side in the licensing business? How could artificial intelligence, or AI, help brand licensing businesses to grow and improve? AI is clearly here to stay. ... Read More

The Christmas bells have been jingling since mid-November in the UK retail market but it remains to be seen if this early start to Christmas trade will get the tills ringing. Christmas is clearly a key time for retailers and as a retail facing industry licensing plays a part in it. Often it is ... Read More

The Christmas bells have been jingling since mid-November in the UK retail market but it remains to be seen if this early start to Christmas trade will get the tills ringing. Christmas is clearly a key time for retailers and as a retail facing industry licensing plays a part in it. Often it is ... Read More

As investigated in Euromonitor International’s “Global Trends Shaping Brand and Lifestyle Licensing Part 2” report, brand and lifestyle licensing presents unique opportunities for businesses. It is a distinctive way of connecting with consumers on different platforms. Many companies trademark their established brands/properties to other companies enabling the company to expand ... Read More

Original Article Source: Forbes.com An old quip that is widely misattributed to the famous movie producer Samuel Goldwyn states “a verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” The truth is, with only a few exceptions, oral agreements are legal, valid and binding. However, oral agreements present other difficulties and challenges ... Read More

As explored in Euromonitor International’s “Global Trends Shaping Brand and Lifestyle Licensing Part 1” report, brand and lifestyle licensing is increasingly an area of focus for many companies. It is a lucrative space which presents broader business options and multiple opportunities by provoking new revenue streams. Many franchises aspire to ... Read More

This post appears in the current issue of Total Licensing The notion that “all politics is local” is most often credited to a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, accentuating the idea that politicians need to intimately understand the nuances of what makes their constituents ... Read More

This article originally appeared in Forbes.   ... Read More

This article originally appeared in Forbes. In the first installment of this three-part series (available here), I commenced a survey and analysis of the key processes and procedures in establishing a corporate brand licensing program by covering how to get started, strategic planning, and teams, processes and tools. In the second ... Read More

It is no news that Brazil is going thru a huge political crisis that affects the country’s economy and has undermined consumer and investors’ confidence however, it seems there is a breath of new air in the licensing industry and the business community seems to agree that we start to ... Read More

As explored in Euromonitor International’s “Global Licensing Trends in Adult Fashion” report, licensed fashion is on fire. It permeates all aspects of the apparel and footwear business and cuts across all demographics, ages and regions. While evergreen characters go strong, fashion, corporate trademark/brand, fashion, sports, music and celebrity licensing all ... Read More

Competitive gaming has existed almost as long as videogames have themselves. Over recent years however, eSports has exploded in popularity to become the mainstream spectator sport that it is today. 2016 was a huge year for eSports and 2017 shows no signs of it slowing down. With a predicted year-on-year ... Read More

A well-functioning corporate licensing program can help a brand to expand into new categories and territories, adapting to new trends and a changing marketplace. However, setting up such a program takes hard work and ongoing care. In the first installment of this three-part series (available here), I commenced a survey and ... Read More

Utku Tansel, Strategy Analyst – Licensing As explored in Euromonitor International’s “Global Licensing Trends in Children’s Apparel and Footwear” report, characters dominate children’s fashion licensing as the majority of these franchises target children. After children  pass the age of eight, other licensing types provide fiercer competition to character   licensing including ... Read More

I recently watched a webinar put on by the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) on Reframing the Ways Brands Grow, and it got me thinking. What is a brand? It’s not just a product or a service any more. It can be a TV series, a political party, even ... Read More

Summer is here!  That means vacations, pool/beach time and the need for some new reading suggestions.  LIMA’s marketing duo is here to help. CHRISTINA’S RECOMMENDATIONS Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook – How to Tell Your Story in a Nosiy Social World – Gary Vaynerchuck “News has little value on ... Read More

Utku Tansel, Strategy Analyst – Licensing, Euromonitor International Asia Pacific was the top region in the world in terms of disposable income and expenditure growth during the period of 2011-2016. While Asia evolves as the global leader in population, production and consumption, manufacturers across many industries are looking into ways ... Read More

Did you know video is projected to claim more than 80% of all web traffic by 2019? According to inc.com, “you want to take big creative steps forward in establishing your business within the video internet marketing revolution. What used to be a future reality conversation held only in ... Read More

Video games on mobile devices, PC’s, and consoles have a tremendous reach now and engage users far more than ever before. And that’s quite a feat. Let’s dispel some old ways of thinking first and then we will go through some simple steps to find a great partner for your license. “Video ... Read More

It all started with an unauthorized hamburger. Well, actually, it all started in 1964 when Hiroaki “Rocky” Aoki opened a chain of iconic Benihana restaurants. The restaurants feature teppanyaki cooking, a dinner entertainment style of cuisine where chefs theatrically prepare meals at an iron griddle located tableside. Sometime after Aoki’s ... Read More

By: Jonathan L. Faber Licensing refers to a transaction involving intellectual property. While trademarks, copyright, and patents are familiar, the Right of Publicity also is the centerpiece of many licensing transactions.  The state-based Right of Publicity ensures control over most commercial uses of one’s persona.  Like copyright, the right generally ... Read More

By: Utku Tansel, Strategy Analyst – Licensing As I explore in our “Global Licensing Trends in Beauty and Personal Care” Global Briefing, Licensing is becoming an important factor across many categories. While fashion houses’ sales in the industry continue to grow, character franchises are driving licensing in baby and child-specific ... Read More