Brand licensing

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Brand licensing is the process of creating and managing contracts between the owner of a brand and a company or individual who wants to use the brand in association with a product, for an agreed period of time, within an agreed territory. Licensing is used by brand owners to extend a trademark or character onto products of a completely different nature.^[1]

Brand licensing a is well-established business, both in the area of patents and trademarks. Trademark licensing has a rich history in American business, largely beginning with the rise of mass entertainment such as the movies, comics and later television. Mickey Mouse's popularity in the 1930s and 1940s resulted in an explosion of toys, books, and consumer products with the lovable rodent's likeness on them, none of which were manufactured by the Walt Disney Company.

This process accelerated as movies and later television became a staple of American business. The rise of brand licensing did not begin until much later, when corporations found that consumers would actually pay money for products with the logos of their favorite brands on them. McDonalds play food, Burger King t-shirts and even ghastly Good Humor Halloween costumes became commonplace. Brand extensions later made the brand licensing marketplace much more lucrative, as companies realized they could make real dollars renting out their equity to manufacturers. Instead of spending untold millions to create a new brand, companies were willing to pay a royalty on net sales of their products to rent the product of an established brand name. Breyers yogurt, TGI Friday's frozen appetizers, Dodge power tools, and Lucite nail polish are only a fraction of the products carrying well-known brand names which are made under license by companies unrelated to the companies who own the brand.

Brand licensing in India

The liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1992 brought a slew of international brands to India. Many of these brands have been licensed to Indian companies. Arvind Brands represent Wrangler, Arrow, Nautica, Jansport and Kipling. The Murjani Group is the licensee for FCUK and Tommy Hilfiger. Beverly Hills Polo Club (BHPC) is licensed to Spencers Retail. Extend Brands represent the No Rules brand in India.

Character Licensing is another big licensing segment of brand licensing in India. The big players in the character licensing industry in India are Walt Disney, Viacom, Extend Brands and Cartoon Network Enterprises. Characters licensed out by Walt Disney are evergreen children characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck. Viacom has brought in popular characters from Nickelodeon like Dora The Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants. Extend Brands represents classic characters like Popeye the Sailorman, Betty Boop and Baby Popeye.

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