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Report of Innovate Legal / EIP Charity-Corporate Partnerships Seminar, London, 16 March 2011 |
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This seminar, hosted by the law firm Innovate Legal and EIP (patent and trademark attorneys) at Innovate Legal’s office in central London, provided an insight into how charities can realise value in their brands and receive additional income streams from partnering with the corporate sector. The seminar covered a wide range of topics, including brand protection, valuation, licensing and forming partnerships in the charitable and not-for-profit sector.
Following an introduction by Innovate Legal’s Director, Duncan Curley, the first speaker was Alice Mastrovito, Partner and Trade Mark Attorney at EIP. Alice focused on the system for protection of charity brands using trade marks. She provided a detailed introduction into what constitutes a ‘brand’, highlighting that a brand is not simply the name or logo of the charity, but also any slogans or sounds used by the organisation. Alice highlighted the fact that registering the charity’s trade mark can help to increase the brand’s value, as well as protecting the brand against any potential infringers. She guided the audience through the requirements and procedure of registration and emphasised the importance of reviewing trade mark registrations on a regular basis.
Louise Amor, Corporate Development Manager at English Heritage, gave a charity's perspective on how to maximise brand value through licensing and partnerships with the corporate sector. Louise discussed the vastness of the licensing market and the importance of using the charity's own licensing objectives to find the right products to represent the brand. Such objectives may include raising the charity's brand awareness, enhancing the brand or simply increasing the charity's income. Louise placed importance on finding the correct companies to work with. A key element in this is knowing one's own brand and researching where the brand fits in the market place. For example, the English Heritage brand may seem out of place licensed to an American toy company, whereas the brand may fit in better with a local English biscuit company. Licensing out the brand can form a good source of income for the charity, however, such partnerships often require detailed research and due diligence. If the brand is licensed for the wrong type of product, it could do more harm than good to the brand as a whole.
Garry Mills, Head of Trade Marks and Brands at Innovate Legal, discussed the various types of partnerships between charities and corporate organisations, from straightforward 'raising money for charity' ventures, to more complicated sponsorship and endorsement deals. In addition to generating revenue, such partnerships can benefit a charity by allowing them to gain access to new potential funders and acquiring know-how and expertise. The association may also raise the charity's and company's profile. Garry set out guidelines on how to create a contract between the parties. Key considerations include the objective of the partnership, the responsibilities of each party, the duration of the partnership and of course, methods of payment. It is important to ensure that the terms of contact are in writing and where possible, reviewed by a solicitor, to prevent disputes.
Kelvin King, Senior Director of BNP Paribas, spoke about business asset valuation. Kelvin discussed the various aspects of a charity that form part of its overall value. These include its intellectual property (e.g. trade marks), licensing and advertising agreements, customer lists, literary materials, to name but a few. By exploiting these, the charity can maximise its brand value and in turn, receive various other forms of income.
Pooran Desai, spoke about the unique role of BioRegional Development Ltd, an entrepreneurial charity, to initiate and deliver practical sustainability solutions. Pooran was able to highlight from his experience some advantages of co-branding (such as enhanced PR) and disadvantages, such as risks to credibility. He provided valuable advice on maintaining reputation and authenticity through the use of license agreements.
Paula Flutter, Partner at EIP, then chaired a lively Q&A session at the conclusion of the seminar.
If you would like more information:
The powerpoint slides from Innovate Legal's Charity-Corporate Partnerships Seminar are available upon request by emailing Simon Barnham at: simonbarnham@innovatelegal.co.uk
Link to EIP's press release about the event:
http://www.eip.com/#/about_eip/blog/company/eip_brands_and_innovate_legal_seminar_hailed_a_success
Links to speaker organisations:
Innovate Legal: www.innovatelegal.co.uk
EIP Patent and Trademark Attorneys: www.eip.com
English Heritage: www.english-heritage.org.uk
BNP Parisbas Assets Valuation Ltd: www.valuation-consulting.co.uk
BioRegional: www.bioregional.com |
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