Guide: How to Get a Collegiate License
Do you have a product that you would like to sell as an officially licensed collegiate product? Are you seeking to obtain a license from a collegiate licensing agency such as the Collegiate Licensing Company or Affinity Licensing? In this article we cover how to obtain a collegiate license.
Starting from the very beginning, as you may be aware, many colleges and universities hire collegiate licensing agencies to manage their trademark licensing programs. For additional background information on the basics of collegiate licensing, please check out our article: What is Collegiate Licensing?
So you have a product that you believe would sell well as collegiate licensed product, however, you don’t no where to start with licensing. You’re in the right spot, the below article walks you through the steps in obtaining a collegiate license, and as nice perk, following this article is likely to save you time and money.
The first step in the process of obtaining a collegiate license is to confirm there is interest in your product from both the school and the retailers that currently sell the school’s licensed product.
For example, if you want to sell a UCLA branded product, you will want to ensure those that manage the UCLA Trademark Licensing program have interest in your product and you need to ensure current retailers of UCLA branded product also have interest in your item.
How do you ensure the school has interest in your product? You will need to get in touch with those that manage the Trademark Licensing program for the specific school you’re seeking to work with. The best approach of getting in touch is to search online with the term ‘school name + ‘trademark licensing program.’ Nearly every school has a webpage dedicated to their trademark licensing program with contact information for those who mange the program.
Are both the school and retailers interested in your item? If yes, the next step is to obtain an application from the licensing agency and begin filling it out. But first, reach out to the school to confirm which collegiate licensing agency the school works with, the agency might be The Collegiate Licensing Company, Affinity Licensing, or Nexus Licensing, to name just a few. Once you confirm with the school which agency they work with, reach out to the agency to secure a license application.
The collegiate licensing application is extensive, so be prepared to devote time to filling it out.
The application will ask for a detailed business plan, including sales channel information, marketing plans and sales projections. If you plan to sell a small amount of product per year, some schools offer a Crafter’s License, this type of license is less demanding of information and is overall less formal than a regular license type. Here we will focus on the application process for a regular license type.
As mentioned the application process will ask for a business plan, but it will also likely ask for an image of your product, and then additionally an actual sample of your product for review prior to the application being approved. Further, the application will ask for proof of insurance, this is especially important if you plan to sell a product that is applied to the skin or ingestible, this could be hand sanitizer, or something a like a craft beer. If your product is applied to the skin or ingestible the insurance requirements are higher.
Finally, the collegiate licensing company, or agency, will ask for payment along with the application, this payment covers administrative costs for the agency to review the application, this payment is about $300. Seeing that there is significant time and money involved in the application process, again, its important to confirm both the school and retailers have interest in your product, if not confirmed, you could see yourself spending time and and money without result.
Once your application is submitted to the licensing agency the agency will review from a technical standpoint ensuring all required info is provided. Once the application passes the agency review, the agency will then send it over to the school for school approval. The school review is more of strategic review to ensure your product fits in well with their other licensed product items. For example, does the school already have 10 companies creating branded hats in every style, price point and retail location imaginable, and your company would offer more of the same, well in that case, your application may not receive approval from the school, and without approval from the school, your application is not approved. However the possibilities of a a rejected application can be avoided by first reaching out to the school to see if they have interest in your item.
Once the agency and the school have approved your application you are well on your way to selling your product as an officially licensed collegiate product. Once you’re approved the licensing agency will reach out to you and walk you through how to submit items to the school for approval, how to submit your sales data to the school and how to pay royalties to the school.
That completes to process of obtaining a collegiate license. As a recap, before starting a license application its important to first reach out to the school and its retailers to ensure there is interest in your product, if you can confirm there is interest by both, then reach out to the school to confirm which licensing agency they work with, once agency is confirmed, then reach out to the agency to secure license application.
Thinking of starting a business in collegiate licensing but don’t know where to start?
Contact Collegiate Licensing World for a professional consultation. Our consultant has nearly a decade of experience in collegiate licensing as a Trademark Licensing Manager at a major university. We can guide you expertly through a wide range of collegiate licensing topics ensuring that you take the correct steps in your business and avoid wasting valuable time and money.