January 14, 2014, New York, NY., - HGTV HOME™ announced today the launch of its HGTV HOME™ Baby furniture collection—now available for purchase exclusively in 86 buybuy BABY® stores in the United States. The first two offerings in the furniture collection—“Grayson” and “Hayden”—feature fresh, beautiful designs with gender neutral options that will complement any nursery décor.
Read MoreJanuary 6, 2014, New York, NY., – Beanstalk, a leading brand licensing agency and consultancy, has signed the famous Got Milk? brand for representation. Beanstalk will leverage the brand’s 90% awareness level to extend the trademark to both food and non-food products. The goal of the program is to drive awareness of Got Milk?, increase fluid milk consumption, as well as to ensure that drinking milk is top of mind for consumers in the non-dairy aisles of retail. While the licensing program is targeted at all consumers, the primary focus is families with children.
Read MoreBY OLIVER HERZFELD, FORBES IP COUNSEL, JANUARY 2, 2014 - A morals clause is a contract provision that prohibits, and provides a remedy for, a party’s illegal, immoral or otherwise undesirable conduct. Morals clauses commonly appear in contracts for the professional services of performers, athletes and other famous personalities. Companies insist on morals clauses to protect their reputation and interests from being adversely affected by the acts of their endorsers, service providers and other contractual counterparties. But what happens in the event of a corporate scandal or when company representatives behave badly? Shouldn’t performers, athletes and other famous personalities seek morals clause mutuality to protect their own reputations from being adversely affected by the companies that engage them?
Read MoreBY OLIVER HERZFELD, FORBES IP COUNSEL, DECEMBER 9, 2013 - Many people consider email to be an informal form of communication. As a result, offers, counter-offers and terms of proposed agreements are frequently exchanged via email with the hope and expectation that they are for negotiation purposes only. The question is, could such email messages be deemed to be legal, valid and binding agreements that are enforceable against senders in accordance with their terms? The New York Appellate Division in the recent case of Forcelli v. Gelco provides some important guidance regarding the answer to this question.
Read MoreBY OLIVER HERZFELD, FORBES IP COUNSEL, OCTOBER 24, 2013 - On Tuesday October 22, 2013, a sculpture of a sphinx made of foam, cement and cinder-blocks appeared on a sidewalk in Queens, New York surrounded by a wide pool of putrid water. On his website, the mysterious and anonymous artist known as Banksy claimed ownership of the work, “Everything but the kitchen Sphinx”, stating: “No turn unstoned. A 1/36 scale replica of the great Sphinx of Giza made from smashed cinderblocks. You’re advised not to drink the replica Arab spring water.” According to the New York Post, an art gallery representative paid the owner of a nearby auto-glass shop, Bernardo Veles, to recruit a team to dismantle the sculpture and load it onto a moving truck that quickly carted it away. Approximately two dozen Banksy fans observed the taking in dismay. One of the members of Mr. Veles’ team sold a brick from the base of the sculpture to a spectator for $100.
Read MoreOctober 17, 2013,New York, NY., – Leading global brand agency, Beanstalk, has recently extended its client, NESQUIK® into a number of adjacent categories that will appeal to all generations of chocolate lovers. Internationally renowned, eco-friendly manufacturer, Smart Planet will launch a line of novelty appliances to create unique treat items under NESQUIK® branding, featuring the beloved NESQUIK® Bunny. The collection includes the Chocolate Fountain and the Cupcake/Brownie Maker. Both appliances are sold with recipe booklets that leverage unique ways to incorporate Nesquik’s core product, whether it be chocolate for the chocolate fountain, or batter for the cupcake/brownie maker.
Read MoreOctober 16, 2013, London, U.K., – Leading consumer goods company, Energizer Holdings Inc., today announced that automotive accessories manufacturer Custom Accessories Europe (CAE) has been appointed as a licensee for the renowned Energizer brand. With a history of over 100 years of innovation, Energizer retails in over 160 countries worldwide and is widely considered a global leader in the power solutions industry. Beanstalk, the global brand licensing agency which has represented the brand in North America since 2009, has been tasked with further expanding the brand’s licensing programme across Europe, building on its rich heritage of innovation, growth and durability.
Read MoreApple’s iPhone has a China problem. The fact that the Chinese market is one that Apple simply cannot afford to ignore shouldn’t surprise anyone. China’s population – and its subsequent potential market – is booming. And Apple’s not ignoring it. Last month, it was announced that Apple’s new iPhones are licensed to work on China Mobile’s network. This opens up Apple to the world’s largest mobile phone company in terms of subscribers.
Read MoreBY OLIVER HERZFELD, FORBES IP COUNSEL, OCTOBER 15, 2013 - Contractual counterparties sometimes agree to contract on major terms while leaving other terms open and subject to further negotiation. In a prior Forbes column (available here), I reviewed a case where one party insisted on materially different terms to the previously agreed-upon major terms. But assuming the parties do not attempt to alter the major terms, what are the boundaries of the parties’ obligation to agree upon the open terms and enter into a final agreement? The recent decision in L-7 Designs v. Old Navy addresses this question.
Read MoreOctober 2013, London, U.K., - Leading global brand licensing agency and consultancy, Beanstalk, today unveiled the selection of new brands that have recently joined its prestigious client roster at Brand Licensing Europe. The announcement comes amidst news of major new license agreements secured by Beanstalk, as well as the launch of a new specialised digital division, Tinderbox.
Read MoreOctober 10, 2013, London, U.K., – Leading global brand licensing agency and consultancy Beanstalk today announced that Lisa Reiner has been promoted to Managing Director of Europe and Asia Pacific. In her new role, Reiner will oversee all international operations, including business development and marketing, for Beanstalk and its newly launched digital division Tinderbox. She succeeds Ciarán Coyle, who is leaving Beanstalk to pursue another career opportunity in the United States.
Read MoreSeptember 12, 2013, London, U.K., – Leading confectionery company Cloetta, formerly known as Leaf UK, today announced Kimm & Miller and Hachette Partworks as its first two licensing partners for much loved British confectionery brand Chewits. The new agreements mark the kick-off of a strategic licensing programme, developed by Chewits’ exclusive brand licensing agency Beanstalk, and coincide with the brand showing double digit growth ahead of the chewy sweets category (Nielsen June 2013).
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