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The United States Marine Corps’ Trademark and Licensing Office (TLO) has decided to make suppliers and manufacturers of any Marine-branded merchandise drop down and give them 20; or some other amount of money to be determined by the licensing and royalty agreement that manufacturers now must enter into in order to sell any product that bears the name, logo, initials or other identifiable mark associated with the USMC.

Products that are currently sold plus any products in development must now enter an approval process which is claimed to take up to three months; approved products must also be fitted with (depending on the type of product) a hologrammed hang tag or a hologrammed sticker.
These tags and stickers will resemble those we have seen on officially licensed pro sports-related products, for example.

TLO representatives will be on hand at the January 2011 Army Navy Military Expo to break down the new requirements with exhibiting suppliers. Scuttlebutt has it that they will also be patrolling the ASD Show next month.

Those companies not in compliance will be subject to product seizures, monetary judgements and possible jail terms. And you thought Gunnery Sgt. Hartman, senior drill instructor, was strict.

This does not come as good news to our already put-upon industry; the tagging and stickering aspect of the new requirements seem somehow the most troublesome and costly.

Be assured, dear reader, that these changes will be reflected in your cost and those that may be passed along to the consumer. And if that’s not enough, and don’t you think it ought to be, you can be certain that the other branches of military service will be along shortly with their berets out.

Those that believe that our military’s marks fall under fair use statutes will need to devise a new battle plan. Please refer to the FAQ at www.marines.mil/trademark (and to our news section on page six of this issue) for the 411 on that.

Let’s look at how we can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat here; first, royalties collected by the USMC go towards administering the program so taxpayer dollars are preserved for more important needs; next, funds collected also go into morale, welfare and recreational programs for Marines worldwide; also, the program helps the Marines ensure that their marks and branding are being used on high quality products and in good taste; and re-sellers benefit from the added stature of offering officially sanctioned and logoed USMC merchandise, a badge of honor for suppliers, retailers and consumers alike.