Sponsorship, merchandising and product endorsement

We are experienced in handling sponsorship arrangements not only in the field of sports but also in the worlds of media and entertainment including arts, literature and cultural events, and for social and charitable projects. In the professional area, we act for both sponsors and rights owners and so we appreciate that these arrangements can represent a lucrative source of additional income but also that there is considerable scope for confusion between the sponsorship of individuals, teams and events, and so a clear understanding of the nature of the sponsorship and contractual clarity are essential.

Our merchandising and product endorsement experience ranges from the exploitation of the image rights of celebrities to the licensing of animated cartoon characters.

With our international offices in Monaco, Dubai and Moscow, we are also used to handling international arrangements, including the structuring and contractual provisions for tax-driven sponsorship arrangements. Our offices work seamlessly, in a way which no other law firm can match, to provide integrated commercial and tax effective solutions to meet the business needs of our international clients.

 

 


Sponsorship, merchandising and product endorsement

We can advise you on:

  • Naming rights
  • Sponsorship
  • Image rights
  • Intellectual property rights
  • Merchandising
  • Passing off and false endorsement
  • Product endorsement
  • Advertising and marketing

 


Sponsorship, merchandising and product endorsement

We advised Tennent Caledonian Breweries, the brewer of Tennents Lager, on its sponsorship agreement as headline sponsor of Preston North End Football Club, and commercial contracts and sponsorship matters relating to its sponsorship of Scottish Premier League football club, Rangers FC.

We advised British Telecom on the stadium naming rights contract for the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff (which was originally named the BT Millennium Stadium).

We advised Opus Media Group on a series of high-profile publishing licence agreements in order to obtain the rights to publish a unique series of high-quality premium-priced books under the 'Kraken Opus' imprint. Licence agreements include Formula One, Arsenal, Manchester United, Diego Maradona and the NFL: these projects are ongoing and have attracted national media comment.  We also negotiated related agreements such as product endorsement contracts with Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Alex Ferguson, and image rights agreements with Joe Montana and Diego Maradona.

 


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Sponsorship, merchandising and product endorsement

"Lawrence Graham has advised Kraken on a series of high-profile publishing licence agreements in order to obtain the rights to publish a unique series of high-quality premium-priced books under the 'Kraken Opus' imprint. Licence agreements have been concluded with Formula One, Arsenal, Manchester United, Diego Maradona and the NFL: these projects are ongoing and have attracted national media comment. These agreements have raised a wide range of challenging IP issues, and have entailed successfully negotiating with organisations for whom their IP is a core business asset for which rights will only be granted to a third party on legally and commercially robust terms. LG “held our hand” as we developed an understanding of the requirements to be met in our capacity as a licensee contracting with licensors such as Ferrari and the NFL, and ensuring that we were comfortable with the undertakings we would be giving under the terms of the contracts." – Paul Murphy, Finance Director, Opus Media Group


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