IWS-224 : The IWS Guide to Product Licensing Success: How to Build Your Business with Brand Licensing and Merchandising

Description

The IWS Guide to Product Licensing Success: How to Build Your Business with Brand Licensing and Merchandising will take you on a journey in which you will discover how you can expand your business exponentially either by licensing your products and ideas to others or by licensing others’ products or services — or both. All forms of intellectual properties are discussed in this comprehensive overview and manual. You will find various forms and examples to start you on your way. Even the experienced licensors and licensees will discover new angles and ideas.

CONTENTS

1. History of Licensing

The Major Properties

The Major Licensors

2. Licensing Basics

Types of Properties

Licensed Product Types

Popularity of Merchandising

3. Intellectual Property Protection

Developing a Protection Plan

Trademarks

Copyrights

4. Licensing Administration

The Licensing Department

International Licensing

Ethics in Licensing

Insuring Compliance

5. Licensing Disputes

The Counterfeiting Industry

Identifying Counterfeit Products and Sources

Steps to Take Against Infringers

6. Licensing Forms

Licensing Agent Agreement

Sub-Agent Agreement

License Application

License Deal Memo

License Agreement

Manufacturer’s Representative Agreement

Some Terms

“Licensing” is a transaction in which the owner of some piece of intellectual property grants another party the right to use that piece of intellectual property, typically in exchange for some consideration. Absent the grant of such a right or license, if the other party used that piece of intellectual property they would be considered to be infringing the rights of the intellectual property owner.

“Intellectual property” can take many forms and may include, for example, musical works, literary works, artwork, drawings, inventions, discoveries, designs, names, logos, legends, industrial designs, trade dress or the like. The common thread for all forms, however, is that the piece of property must be protectable under some form of intellectual property protection, including by a patent, trademark, copyright, right of publicity or trade secret.

There are many types of “licensing”, virtually all of which will depend in large measure on the property involved. For example, when the piece of intellectual property being licensed is technology or covered by a patent, the act of granting one the right to use such technology or patent is called technology or patent licensing. Similarly, when the property is a piece of software, the act of licensing that software would be called software licensing and, similarly, when the property being licensed is a trademark, the act of licensing it would be called trademark licensing.

The practice of licensing a highly recognizable brand or character for goods or services other than those which generated its original popularity, is frequently called “ancillary product licensing” or simply “merchandising.” Thus, when a studio popularizes a particular character in conjunction with a television series or motion picture, the art of granting a manufacturer the right to use that character on otherwise unrelated products, e.g., t-shirts or toys, is frequently called “merchandising.”

It should be appreciated that the term “merchandising” may have many other meanings, particularly to those in the retail or marketing fields. Historically, “merchandising” has been defined as “a sales promotion as a comprehensive function including market research, development of new products, coordination of manufacture and marketing, and effective advertising and selling.”

While that definition, no doubt, remains accurate, in the context of licensing, “merchandising” refers to an entirely different thing, i.e., the combination of a highly recognizable brand or character (or other piece of intellectual property) with generic goods or services so as to enhance or increase the sales of such goods or services. Thus, for example, when the New York Yankees (or Major League Baseball Properties) licenses the “NY” logo for use on an otherwise unadorned black baseball cap, that constitutes “merchandising” in its purest form.