SPECIAL REPORT ■ From previous page.
more, printed units. On Google, Logos4polos (at the time of writing) is organically the number one search return for ʻembroidery polosʼ or ʻembroidery logosʼ. Corporate Clothing Company UK Ltd supplied the recent ICC Cricket World Cup – embroidered in London and shipped to India. “Weʼve done jobs of up to 100,000 pieces here,” he says. “Thereʼs not many people who can do a printing and embroidery business within the M25 but I seem to be able to do it.” Heʼs also had experience of being a licensee and held the central London license for a well-known childrenʼs character a couple of years ago. “But all I really wanted to do was to copyright the ʻI Love Londonʼ design,” he admits. “So I searched on the internet and found an intellectual property lawyer. He saw it [the logo] and said, ʻYou know youʼre not going to get thisʼ. I said, ʻWell, letʼs just do it and see what happens.ʼ Then I got a phone call on the 25th February to say that I had got it.”
London Icons S
o now heʼs registered the design, what next? Firstly, heʼs created the company, London Icons, for the central London souvenirs market. Secondly, he has begun to associate the brand with the idea of authenticity. “Now weʼve got packaging that says itʼs the official ʻI Love Londonʼ T shirt. Weʼve relabelled everything with London Icon neck tag and weʼve got ʻI Love Londonʼ swing tags as well.”
The third part of the marketing strategy is to create an incentive for tourists to choose his ʻofficialʼ ʻI Love Londonʼ T shirts over the others. “When people buy an official shirt, they can SMS, email or log on to our site and weʼll do a monthly draw to win a free trip to London,” he explains. “If theyʼre already here, they can submit their bills and weʼll pay for their expenditure while theyʼre here.” Toor is hoping to utilise inflight magazines on planes transporting tourists to London to advertise the monthly draw. He also wants to use networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to create an online community of London tourists who can upload their photos and enter the competition. “Before there was no reason for doing it but now we have the official stamp it makes it a totally different ball game,” adds Toor. “We want to build the brand.”
He is also hoping to trademark the design before the Olympics next year, although stresses that he would be willing to discuss licensing options with third parties. “Iʼm happy to print the T shirts for people to take to the London market,” he says. “But weʼd also be happy for people to come to us and ask for a licence to print themselves.”
Even if the trademark isnʼt awarded, Toor still intends to go ahead with the big
| 16 | August 2011
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
model he has chosen for ʻI Love Londonʼ can be rolled out for the other locations. “Iʼve got a vision to take this forward,” continues Toor. “I want to encourage people over to my way of doing things. Weʼve decided to not wait any longer and to start letting people know that weʼve got the copyright. Once people know, theyʼll stop doing it.” It seems a daunting challenge but Colin Toor seems ready for it. “People laughed when I said I was going for the license. But when that phone call and documents came through, I wished Iʼd done it years ago.”
For more information
COPYRIGHT: Printer Colin Toor has succeeded in copyrighting the ʻI love Londonʼ logo.
marketing campaign behind the official ʻI Love Londonʼ T shirts and have a monthly giveaway. He has also registered the design for Wales, Scotland, Paris and Dublin and hopes that the business
See here to view London Iconsʼ registered designs on the Intellectual Property Officeʼs website:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/design/d-os/d- find/
d-find-number.htm
Design numbers 4018796, 4019493, 4019494, 4019229 and 4019228. The Intellectual Property Office website also has a wealth of more information regarding copyright, trademarking and intellectual property rights.
www.ipo.gov.uk
Check it out at Brand Licensing Europe
If youʼre interested in any aspects of copyright and licensing, a visit to Brand Licensing Europe exhibition in October would give a clear insight into the industry and how it works. With exhibitors including Chorion, Aardman and the BBC, thereʼs also a programme of free-to-attend seminars, workshops and panel discussions including one with an update on the retail and licensing programme around the 2012 Olympics. It runs from October 18-20 at The Grand Hall Olympia in London.
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