What Can Fashion Designer Virgil Abloh Teach Us About Trademark Ownership & Licensing

Fashion Designer Virgil Abloh does not own New Guard Group, the company that produces, markets and distributes Off White clothing, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟 𝗪𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤. Retaining ownership of the trademark is an absolute power move! Way to go, Virgil! ⁣

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As I’ve told you numerous times, your trademark is your most valuable asset in your business. Think about it: how valuable will the clothing be if the company producing, marketing and distributing the clothing is not allowed to use the brand name “Off White” or its logo? Might as well move on to something else because you’ll just be producing clothing without an identity. ⁣

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Intellectual property like tangible property can be sold and leased. In this case, Virgil Abloh has a multi-year agreement to license the “Off White” trademark to New Guard Group, possibly in exchange for a healthy percentage of the profits. Depending on the terms of the agreement, he may be able to control how the trademark is being used and can even move to license the trademark to another company once his contract with New Guard Group ends. ⁣

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Are you actively thinking about leveraging your brand via trademark registration? Let’s talk about your goals! It’s time to make 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 to take your biz to the next level!